THE MENHADEN FISHERY. 333 



and paid by the crew at about $40 per month. When the men are all out in the boats after fish 

 the cook acts as pilot, guiding the vessel alongside the seine full of fish. 



The engineer must be always at his post in the engine room, except when taking in the catch, 

 when he tends the donkey engine, the vessel at that time not being under way. The engineer and 

 fireman are paid regular wages, the former generally a larger sum than the fishing crew. 



THE RELATION OF THE MENHADEN FISHERY TO THE FISHERMEN. 



In discussing the relations between the fisheruin_and the fisheries, when the business was 

 carried on along the coast of Maine, Mr. Haddocks says: 



" The steamers return every night, if they have any fare, and are hardly absent more than 

 two or three days. Operations are suspended in bad weather. The oil is manufactured at once, 

 and meets ready market. The men can thus be promptly paid; whereas in the mackerel and cod 

 fisheries the hands are sometimes obliged to wait until the end of the season for settlement; the 

 service is dangerous and comparatively full of hardships. The Menhaden Association has never 

 lost a man in its service, and not one of the steamers has ever burst a boiler. This is the more 

 important, since the cod and mackerel fisheries have been and are greviously oppressed, and 

 greatly reduced by the tariff regulation that admits English fish free to our markets. The Eng- 

 lishman can build his craft at less cost than the American, can fit and equip her cheaper, and can 

 therefore afford to sell his fish at a lower figure than the home fishermen, and at the same time 

 he pays none of our taxes while enjoying the benefit of our market. The menhaden fishery has 

 afforded no little relief in this condition of things to the unemployed fishing population on our 

 coast and elsewhere." 



Mr. R. E. Earll thus describes the relations of the fishermen of Maine in 1879: ''The factories 

 have printed regulations as to the price to be paid for the fish, paying more toward the close of the 

 season as the fish get fatter. In 1879 the prices adopted by the Maine Oil and Guano Association 

 were 30 cents per barrel till August 1, 00 cents till September 15, and 80 cents till the end of the 

 season in Maine. Mr. L. Maddocks says that the average amount of oil for the season to a barrel 

 of fish is about 1 gallon from fish taken south of Cape Cod, and 2.J gallons from those taken later 

 on the coast of Maine. 



" The men are almost wholly Americans, will average about thirty years of age, and are, as a 

 rule, the strongest and most energetic men of the section. The business being more remunerative 

 than other kinds of fishing, men are anxious to engage in it, and thus the captains have a large 

 list to select from ; and as there is much hard work that . at the same time requires quickness of 

 movement, skill, and good judgment, the crews are selected on account of their fitness for the place. 

 "The captain not only has an average share with the crew, but is paid an additional 5 to 10 

 cents for each barrel of fish landed, as an incentive to extra-exertions. He must be a practical 

 fisherman, have an accurate knowledge of the coast, and a pilot's license to enable him to follow 

 the fish into the rivers and bays of the coast and to take the steamer into any convenient harbor 

 for shelter. In addition to this, he must, to use the language of the secretary of the Maine Oil and 

 Guano Association, 'have a good eye for fish,' which means that he must have a sharpness of 

 vision that will enable him to see the fish schooling at a distance or to detect their presence under 

 water from a slight change of its color. Even when swimming at a depth of 2 or 3 fathoms an 

 experienced eye will distinguish between pogies, mackerel, aud even herring. The average cap- 

 tain will make $1,000 while the fish are on the coast of Maine, which is an average of $250 per 

 month. The practice of hiring the captain outright is coming into favor, and in 1878 probably 10 

 per cent, of those from Maine were working upon salary, getting an average of $1,500 for the season, 



