268 



HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



6. RUNNING FOR THE MARKET. 



Those mackerel schooners engaged in market fishing find it desirable to make their passages 

 with the utmost speed, but rapid passages in summer are, of course, much less dangerous than 

 those made in winter by the haddock and halibut vessels. Great expedition is used by all mackerel 

 vessels, since the season is short, and they feel obliged to take advantage of every opportunity. 

 In the case of salted fish, however, there is no such anxiety to sell, and the chief desire of the 

 skipper is to land his fish and to retm > to the fishing ground with no unnecessary loss of time. 



It often happens that mackerel catchers who are not engaged in the fresh fish trade take a big 

 haul, 200 barrels or so, when they have but few barrels to put them in and scarcely any salt. In 

 such cases it is of the highest importance to reach home if possible, or at least some large fishing 

 port where barrels and salt can be obtained, and all the sail that can be spread or that the vessel 

 will carry is set. 



7. LANDING THE CARGOES. 



The mackerel are hoisted out on the wharf by a horse, the duty of the crew being to hook on 

 the barrels and to roll them to the proper places on the wharf, after they are landed, where the 

 barrels are generally stowed on their heads, ready to be opened. In seasons of abundance, and 

 when the men have become exceedingly fatigued from their labors in catching and dressing a fare 

 of mackerel, it is often the case that the skipper will hire a number of longshoremen to take the 

 fish out of the vessel. At such times, too, the shoresmen are employed to plow the fish, and also to 

 assist in packing them, since the fishermen find it more profitable to hire men to do this than to 

 remain ashore and do it themselves. For in the mean time they may be fortunate enough to catch 

 a fare of two or three hundred barrels of mackerel. 



In the days of hook-and-line fishing, the landing and packing of mackerel was carried on much 

 more leisurely than at present. At first it was customary for the men composing a crew to hoist 

 the mackerel out on the wharf by tackles; but within the last fifteen or twenty years it has 

 been found more profitable to employ a horse for this purpose, since the work of discharging can 

 be carried on much more rapidly than before and with less tax upon the strength of the men. The 

 several processes of unheadiug the barrels, culling, weighing, and packing the mackerel are fully 

 described in another chapter, and need not be repeated here. 



8. FINANCIAL PROFITS OF SEINING. 



The following tables, copied from the annual reports of the Boston Fish Bureau, show the large 

 catches and "stocks" by the mackerel fleet in New England waters for the seasons of 1880 and 1881: 



