774 HISTORY AND METHODS OP THE FISHERIES. 



20 fathoms in the early spring and late fall. The ordinary half-cylinder lath traps, with net- 

 funnels, measuring 4 feet long by 2 feet wide and high, are universally employed. 



Occasionally, even in recent times, the old style of hoop-net pot has been used by a few fishermen 

 with fair success. Flounders and sculpins are most commonly used as bait in the summer, and 

 cod and halibut heads in the spring. The boats in use by the fishermen are mostly dories, valued 

 at about $20 each. The average catch per trap is said to be about three lobsters, but as many as 

 thirteen are sometimes taken at a single haul. 



In the height of the season the traps are sometimes visited twice a day, both morning and 

 evening, but, as a rule, they are only hauled in the morning. In former times the fishermen earned 

 as high as $500 in a season, but now their season's earnings seldom exceed $200. A very few men 

 hire out at the rate of $35 to $40 per month. The average earnings per season for the lobstermen 

 of this district are about $110. Many of the men fish during only a few weeks. 



Lobsters are sold in Gloucester mainly by count, but recently the method of selling by weight 

 has been coming into favor. The retail prices of fresh lobsters in 1880 were from 4 to 6 cents 

 each, and of boiled lobsters from 6 to 10 cents each. 



The greater portion of the lobsters caught about Gloucester and Rockport are sent to Boston, 

 being carried there either by railroad, steamer, or smacks. There are two or three smacks which 

 make regular trips between Gloucester and Boston. Only a small portion of the catch is sold 

 locally. The lobsters are landed by the fishermen, and sold at once to regular buyers, who tend 

 to the shipping. Many of the fishermen contract in the spring to sell their season's catch, whatever 

 may be the amount, to certain parties. The lobsters sent in the steamers and by railroad are first 

 barreled. 



At Manchester, the lobster fishery is about the only fishery now carried on. The catch, which 

 in 1880 amounted to 8,250 by count, is sold locally, and mainly to the summer visitors. 



Summation of the lobster fisheries in Gloucester district in 1880. 



Number of fishermen 95 



Number of boats 78 



Value of same _ f 1,560 



Number of lobster pots 2,549 



Value of same $2,549 



Total amount of capital invested in the fishery $4, 109 



Number of barrels of bait used 570 



Value of same $285 



Quantity of lobsters taken and disposed of, in pounds 285,510 



Value of same to the fishermen $10,468 



SALEM DISTRICT. 



The lobster stations in this district are Salem and Beverly. Fishing is carried on more or 

 less continuously throughout the entire year, but the greater part of the catch is made in April, 

 May, September, and October. But few lobsters are taken in warm weather. The men generally 

 go two in a boat, each boat using on an average sixty pots. The pots are set on single warps 

 about the ledges in the harbor and also off the harbor, at distances of 5 to 10 miles. The average 

 daily catch to a boat during good seasons, is about one hundred and fifty lobsters. The winter 

 catch averages about seventy-five lobsters daily to a boat. Most of the catch during the early part 

 of the season is sold in Boston, but later the lobsters caught here are mainly boiled in the old- 

 fashioned kettles, and sold in Salem, Beverly, and the adjacent towns. One fishing schooner, of 

 16.40 tons measurement, is owned in Salem, and engages in the lobster fishery during a part of 



