THE FROZEN-HERRING INDUSTRY. 



439 



Table showing the quantity and value of the herring taken in the Province of Quebec in 1880. 



* The divisions of the Province of Quebec /rom the city of Quebec to Sersirnis and the Saint Lawrence above Quebec (see pp. 119 and 123, 

 Report of Minister of Marine and Fisheries) are omitted, having no mackerel or herring, 

 t Pickled. 



Table showing the quantity and value of the herring taken in the Dominion of Canada in 1880. 



"The inland Provinc* of Manitoba, which of course has no mackerel or herring, is omitted. t Not given in official report. } Pickled. 



2. THE FROZEN-HEBRING INDUSTRY. 



1. ORIGIN OF THE TRADE. 



NEWFOUNDLAND FROZEN-HEERING TRADE. The island of Newfoundland has, from its earliest 

 discovery, been a very important locality for the herring. Different schools have appeared upon 

 different portions of the coast at various seasons of the year. For any particular locality, however, 

 the time of arrival and departure of the different schools has been quite constant, and, in some 

 places, the herring have remained but a few weeks. On other portions of the coast, and particu- 

 larly along the southern shores of the island, they remain during the greater part of the year, and 

 at Fortune Bay can be taken in considerable numbers for fully eight months. 



As early as 1837 a Gloucester fishing vessel visited the island for a trip of salt herring, and 

 other vessels from the same port went occasionally a few years later. The salt-herring fisheries, 

 however, did not become important for many years. 



In those early days the fresh-fish trade of the United States was of little importance, and the 

 present methods of iciug, freezing, and shipping were little known. The present trade in fresh 

 fish is of recent growth and is the result of a series of experiments in different methods of icing 

 and refrigeration. In those days, when ice was not used, the fresh-fish trade was confined largely 

 to the locality where the fish were taken, and if any shipping was done it was confined to a radius 

 of a few miles at the most. The idea of engaging in an extensive traffic in fresh fish did not, there- 



