698 HISTORY AND METHODS OP THE FISHERIES. 



Keunebec are of cotton (sometimes beinp) twine of 12-inch mesh (occasionally varied, but always 

 between 10 and 13 inch), 25 to 30 meshes deep, 80 to 100 fathoms long, coiked and leaded like any 

 drift-net. These are set by night on the ebb tide from a large punt worked commonly by two 

 men. The ordinary fishing grounds on the Kennebec extend from Bath to Richmond, but sturgeon 

 can be and sometimes are caught as far up as Augusta. 



UTILIZATION. At the present time no portion of the sturgeon is saved but the clear flesh, 

 which is cut from the trunk, packed in ice and sent to New York, where it is smoked for use. 

 About half the fish is refuse, including the entrails, head, skin, and vertebral column. The pre^ 

 servation of the roe for the making of caviar, and the trying out of the oil with which the refuse 

 abounds have been sometimes practiced in former years, but at present all but the clear flesh is 

 thrown into the refuse heap and employed only for fertilizing the land. 



HISTORICAL NOTES ON THE STUBGHEON FISHERY. Sturgeon were apparently more highly 

 esteemed in the early days of American history than now. They were specially mentioned in 

 the original grant of the King of England to Ferdinando Gorges, conveying a large territory in 

 the southwestern part of the State inclusive of the Kennebec River. In the early part of the 

 eighteenth century there existed a flourishing sturgeon fishery in the province of Maine, 

 which employed some years over twenty vessels, and was esteemed an important branch of industry. 

 It does not appear, however, to have been prosecuted continuously. Very early in the present 

 century a company of men came to the Kennebec, and, locating themselves on a small island near 

 the outlet of MerryufSeting Bay, since known as " Sturgeon Island," engaged in the catching of 

 sturgoon, which they soused, packed in kegs, and shipped to the West Indies, where they sold at 

 $1 a keg.* This business was, however, suspended, for what reason is unknown, and though 

 sturgeon were very abundant in the Keunebec during the early part of the present century, at 

 least until about 1840, no attempt was made to utilize them except, occasionally for home use, 

 until 1849. 



In 1849 a Mr. N. K. Lombard, representing a Boston firm, came down to the Kenuebec, estab- 

 lished himself at " Burnt Jacket," in the town of Woolwich, between Bath and Merrymeetiug Bay, 

 and undertook to put up the roe of sturgeon for caviar, and at the same time boil down the bodies 

 for oil. A large number of fishermen engaged in the capture of sturgeon to sell to Lombard. The 

 price paid was 25 to 50 cents apiece. The first year there were obtained 160 tons of sturgeon.t 

 They yielded oil of fine quality, superior to sperm oil for illuminating purposes, in the opinion of 

 the inhabitants of that vicinity, who have been accustomed to use it when attainable. The attempt 

 to utilize the roe was at first unsuccessful. It was put into hogsheads, very lightly salted, and all 

 spoiled. The next two years the roe was cured by salting heavier, drying, and laying it down 

 with a little sturgeon oil, and was pronounced satisfactory. However, the business was discon- 

 tinued after 1851. That year the sturgeon were quite scarce. 



From this time there was a suspension of the sturgeon fishery until 1872, when some of the 

 local fishermen of the Kennebec took it up again. In 1874 a crew of fishermen, headed by one 

 John Mier, of New York, went into the business, catching and buying all they could, and shipping 

 them to New York, where they proposed to smoke the flesh and utilize the roe for caviar and the 

 sounds for glue. They aimed to catch the sturgeon early in the season, while the roe was yet 

 black and hard, and to keep the fish alive until the proper time arrived for opening them. For 

 the latter purpose they constructed a great pen, in which they at one time had seven hundred live 

 sturgeon. After five years the sturgeon again became scarce, and the business was relinquished 



* Statement of John Brown. 



t Statement of Jos. Partridge, of Woolwich. 



