THE HERRING FISHERY. 427 



The herring-nets are 15 to 20 fathoms long, 2 to 3 fathom's deep, and have a mesh varying 

 from 2 to 2f inches. Each vessel usually carries from 8 to 15 of these nets, which, together with 

 the anchors and hangings, are worth $10 to $15 apiece. The webbing is usually purchased from 

 the various factories in the larger cities, and, after being' hung by the fishermen, the nets are 

 tanned with catechu or dipped in tar for the purpose of preserving them. 



Each vessel is also provided with small open boats, varying from 14 to 18 feet in length, oue 

 of these being carried for every two members of the crew, with the exception of the cook, who 

 usually remains on board to care for the vessel whilejthe others are tending the nets. 



THE FISHERMEN. The greater part of the men engaged in the herring fisheries are those 

 who have been employed iu some branch of the shore fisheries during the summer months. With 

 few exceptions, they are native-born Americans, though a considerable percentage of the Boston 

 fishermen are of foreign birth, the majority of these being Irish. The crews vary in number, 

 according to the size of the vessel. The smallest vessels usually c^rry two men and a boy, while 

 the larger ones carry as high as seven or eight men. Taking the entire herring fleet, a fair average 

 would be four or five men to the vessel. 



3. THE LAY AND SHARE. 



SCOTCH METHODS. It might be interesting, under this head, to give an idea of the relations 

 between the fishermen and dealers in Scotland, where the fisheries are very important. Mr. James 

 G. Bertram says : 



Commerce in herring is entirely different from commerce in any other article, particularly in Scotland. In fact, 

 the fishery, as at present conducted, is just another way of gambling. The home "carers" and foreign buyers are the 

 persons who at present keep the herring fishery from stagnation ; and the goods (. ., the fish) are generally all bought 

 and sold long before they are captured. The way of dealing m herring is pretty much as follows : Owners of boats are 

 engaged to fish by cnrers, the bargains being usually that the curer will take two hundred crans of herring and a 

 crau, it may be stated, is forty-five gallons of ungutted fish; for these two hundred crans a certain sum per cran is 

 paid, according to arrangement, the bargain includiug as well a definite sum of ready money by way of bounty, per- 

 haps also an allowance of spirits, and the use of ground for the drying of the nets. On the other hand, the boat-owner 

 provides a boat, nets, buoys, and all the apparatus of the fishery, and engages a crew to fish ; his crew may, perhaps, 

 be relatives and part owners, sharing the venture with him, but usually the crew consists of hired men, who get so 

 much wages at the end of the season and have no risk or profit. This is the plan followed by free and independent 

 fishermen who are really owners of their own boats and apparatus. It will thus be seen that the curer is bargaining 

 for two hundred crans of fish months before he knows that a single herring will be captured ; for the bargain of next 

 season is always made at the close of the present one, and he has to pay out at once a large sum 'by way of bounty, 

 and provide barrels, salt, and other necessaries for the cure before he knows even if the catch of the season just 

 expiring will all be sold, or how the markets will pulsate next year. On the other hand, the fisherman has received 

 his pay for his season's fish, and very likely pocketed a sum of from ten to thirty pounds as earnest money for next 

 year's work. Then, again, a certain number of curers, who arc men of capita], will advance money to young fish- 

 ermen in order that they may purchase a boat and the necessary quantity of netting to enable them to engage in the 

 fishery, thus thirling the boat to their service, very probably fixing an advantageous price per cran for the herrings 

 to be fished and supplied. Curers, again, who are not capitalists, have to borrow from the buyers, because to compete 

 with their fellows they must be able to lend money for the purchase of boats and nets, or to advance sums by way of 

 bounty to the free boats; and thus a rotten, unwholesome system goes the round fishermen, boat-builders, cnrers, 

 and merchants all hanging on each other, and evidencing that there is as much gambling in herring fishiug as in 

 horse-racing. The whole system of commerce connected with this trade is decidedly unhealthy, and ought at once to 

 be checked and reconstructed if there be any logical method of doing it. At a port of three hundred boats a sum of 

 145 was paid by the curers for "arles" and spent in the public houses! More than 4,000 was spent in bounties, 

 and an advance of nearly 7,000 made on the various contracts, and all this money was paid eight months before the 

 fishing began. When the season is a favorable one ami plenty of fish are taken, then all goes well, and the evil day 

 is postponed; but if, as in one or two recent seasons, the take is poor, then there comes a crash. One falls, and, like 

 a row of bricks, the others all follow. At the large fishing stations there are comparatively few of the boats that are 

 thoroughly free ; they are tied up in some way between the buyers and curers, or they are in pawn to some merchant, 

 who " backs" the nominal owner. The principal, or at least the immediate sufferers, by these arrangements are the 

 hired men. 



This "bounty," as it is called, is a most reprehensible feature of herring commerce, and, although still the preva- 

 lent mode of doing business, has been loudly declaimed against by all who have the real good of the fishermen at 



