268 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



tion of the industry for a few years previous to the pas- 

 sage of the act of suspension. In 1885 a fleet of about 175 

 schooners set sail for the southern fishing grounds. The 

 first fares were landed at New York by the schooners Emma 

 W. Brown and Nellie M. Rowe on March 28, each vessel 

 having 125 barrels of mackerel. During the season un- 

 usually large quantities of mackerel were landed at New 

 York and Philadelphia, the quantity at the former market 

 being 125,000 barrels. The price of the fish was from 

 seventy-five cents to one dollar per hundred fish and the 

 total value of all fish taken was about $273,000. 



At one time 130 vessels were in with fares of fish. The 

 market was inadequate to care for so large a quantity. 

 Many fish sold as low as fifty cents per thousand at this 

 time, and large quantities of the fish were thrown away. 

 Some reports place the number of fish thrown away at 

 40,000 barrels ; other reports stated that as high as 150,000 

 barrels of mackerel were wasted in this way. Undoubtedly 

 the reports were greatly exaggerated. Personal observa- 

 tions made at the time by representatives of the United 

 States Fish Commission, confirmed by reliable authorities, 

 "showed that there was little foundation for these esti- 

 mates, and indicated that only from ten to fifteen thou- 

 sand barrels of fresh mackerel were thus destroyed for 

 want of a market, and that the most liberal estimate should 

 not place the quantity at over 20,000 or 25,000 barrels." 1 



The southern mackerel fishery for 1886 was almost a 

 failure. This was due in part to a smaller fleet, there be- 

 ing about 150 vessels employed. The greater part of the 

 fleet failed to pay expenses. During the height of the sea- 

 son twenty days of stormy weather caused a suspension 

 of the industry, greatly to the loss of the fishermen. 

 There were 117 fares of fresh mackerel landed at New 

 York, which were sold out of the vessels for $78,507. 



i Smith, Southern Spring Mackerel Fishery, p. 197. 



