602 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



or pounds without curved Hues, are successfully operated. The Mouomoy pounds are double that 

 is, they have two leaders and two hearts and bowls, the second leader extending outward from the 

 first bowl. 



The most important fisheries are at Chatham, off Monomoy Point, and along the western 

 portion of the north shore of Martha's Vineyard. Other stations exist, however, at intervals from 

 Chatham to Wood's Holl, on the south shore of Cape Cod, among the Elizabeth Islands, about 

 Nantucket, and the eastern portion of the north shore of Martha's Vineyard. The fishery seems 

 most completely organized at Monomoy. The nets are set westward from the shore on the great 

 flats that extend off the point in that direction, and at but short distances from one another. Along 

 the south shore of the cape they are placed in the shallow bays and inlets; westward, about Fal- 

 mouth, at the outlets of the curious fiords of that region. The nets about the Elizabeth Islands 

 are not of great importance, if I may exclude the Rhode Island traps which have been introduced 

 there, to which I shall allude when treating of the fisheries of that state. Along the Vineyard 

 shore the pounds are placed in the inlets, such as Lombard's Cove, Men*msha Bight, and others. 



Unlike the fisheries of the north shore, the stations in Vineyard Sound are remote from the 

 villages. This is notably the case at Monomoy. The fishermen establish a colony there at the 

 opening of the fishing season, and remain until it is past. Each party, consisting of about ten or 

 twelve men, is accompanied by two cooks, that there may be no lack of digestible and strength- 

 giving food, and a bookkeeper, that the accounts may be in order. One or more fish-houses, in 

 which the fishermen live, stand opposite each pound-net. The arrangements are not so elaborate 

 on Vineyard Sound, and at the west end of the cape the pound nets lie comparatively near the 

 dwellings of the fishermen. 



The season at Monomoy extends from the 10th or middle of April to the last of May or 1st 

 of June. It extends over a much longer period on the Vineyard, but the pounds are usually up 

 during the heated term in the summer. 



CAEE AND DISPOSITION OF THE CATCH. The catch of the Vineyard Sound pounds includes 

 a great variety of species of fish, the number and size of each kind varying, of course, greatly 

 in different parts of the season. The most important factors in the product of the fishery are mack- 

 erel, sea-herring, menhaden, alewives, flounders, and shad. Scup are not usually taken to any 

 considerable extent. Some of the pounds ou the north shore of Martha's Vineyard catch great 

 quantities of squid, which are sold to the vessel fishermen for bait, as is also the major portion of 

 the menhaden and alewives taken in all the pounds. 



It is not unusual for the Martha's Vineyard companies to secure considerable quantities of 

 bonito and Spanish mackerel. I remember that while at Menemsha Bight in 1879, at the fish-house 

 of one of the pounds a flag was flying in order to signal to the smacks, which were lying at a dis- 

 tance, that the pockets of the net were full of bonito. This fish and Spanish mackerel seem to 

 vary greatly in abundance from day to day, the hauls of the pounds for a week at a time perhaps 

 containing not a single specimen of either species. The arrangements for disposing of the products 

 of the weir are quite different from those employed by the north-shore companies. From the 

 pounds of Mouomoy Point the products are conveyed to market by way of Dennispoi t. They are 

 carried from the nets to that place in small sloops, which are pressed into service at the beginning 

 of the season and are kept constantly employed. The fish are, of course, taken from the pounds 

 fresh, and are simply stowed in the boats. When they arrive at Dennisport they are taken out and 

 packed with ice in barrels and other receptacles. Thence they go directly by rail to Boston and 

 New York. Along the western portion of the south shore of the cape, as I have already stated, 



