422 HISTOEY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



weirs, which often extended well out into the channel, frequently nearly meeting from the opposite 

 shores. The bulk of the fish having been turned from their usual passage, they seemed to move a 

 few miles to the eastward, and the center of the fishery is now at the eastern end of Campobello 

 and in the vicinity of Deer Island, New Brunswick, though considerable numbers of small fish are 

 still taken at Lubec, and even as far west as Cutler and Cross Island. 



The fisheries of this region, though extensive, are not yet fully developed, for the small fish, 

 prior to the establishment of sardine canneries in 1875, were of little use, and fishing for them was 

 not considered profitable. On account of the small size and the supposed worthlessness of the 

 fish, little or no attention was paid to their capture, and until recently many fishermen have been 

 wholly unaware of the immense quantity of herring in the region. 



The catch being sold almost exclusively to the sardine canneries, the subject will be treated 

 more fully in the chapter on the sardine fisheries. 



THE FISHING-GROUNDS OF JONESPOKT AND BOISBTJBEET. The next important herring 

 ground as we proceed westward is that in the vicinity of Jonesport, or in and about Moos-a-bec 

 Beach. According to Mr. M. P. Chandler, of Jonesport, large schools of herring have visited 

 these waters regularly since 1830, and probably for a much longer period. He claims that schools 

 of small fish arrive about the last of April and remain till the middle of June, when they are 

 driven farther out to sea by schools of full-grown herring that visit the waters along the shore. 

 Vessels from the surrounding fishing ports resorted to this locality with gill-nets as early as 1840, 

 and the fishery continued until 1872, when, owing to a depreciation in the value of the fish, the 

 business was wholly discontinued, and no vessels have visited the region since that date. During 

 the height of the fishery a fleet of twenty- five sail often anchored in Head Harbor, and the fish- 

 eries were prosecuted from small boats in the surrounding waters Though the vessel fishery 

 ceased some time since, the herring are reported as abundant as formerly, and considerable num- 

 bers of them are taken in nets and weirs by the local fishermen, the greater part being used for 

 bait, while the remainder are employed as a dressing for the land, or sold to the sardine canneries 

 established at Jonesport in 1880. 



Lying to the southward of the towns of Millbridge and Steuben, between the mainland and 

 Petit Manan light, is the small rocky island of Boisbubert. This island is about two miles long 

 by half a mile wide, and the waters lying off its southern head are a favorite resort for the herring 

 during the spawning season, which extends from the middle of July to September. The spawning- 

 grounds are located within a radius of two or three miles of the southern head of the island, and 

 include a number of small rocky islands and ledges, the principal ones being Egg Eock and Jor- 

 dan's Delight. The bottom of the ocean in this region is covered with large stones and bowlders, 

 to which large quantities of alga? are attached. During the spawning season the entire bottom is 

 often covered to a depth of several inches with the eggs of the herring. 



This has been a favorite spawning-ground for the species from the earliest recollections of the 

 oldest inhabitants, and, according to Mr. Sanborn, of Millbridge, a brush weir was built in the 

 mouth of the Naraguagus Eiver, near the village of Millbridge, as early as 1820. Though herring 

 were taken in considerable numbers, the weir fisheries increased very slowly, owing to a limited 

 demand for the fish, the supply being used only for bait by the few local fishermen and tor fertiliz- 

 ing the land. About 1850 parties from Lubec came to the region and built large weirs on Bois- 

 bubert Island and other places along the mainland, and then, for the first time, the herring fisheries 

 became important. The business continued to increase, and each of the weir-owners built large 

 smoke-houses and presses for utilizing the catch. The fishery was at its height between 1858 and 

 1863, when twelve to fifteen weirs were fished regularly and 75,000 to 100,000 boxes of herring were 



