ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 149 
“A swordfish weighing about two hundred and fifty pounds 
was caught near our cape on Tuesday. It was taken to Boston 
and retailed out from Quincy Market, by Messrs. Covill, at 12% 
cents per pound. The sword, measuring from the eye to the tip, 
is thirty-seven inches in length.’ 
Mr. John H. Thompson writes: “ At present the great bulk of 
the catch is sold fresh. Most of the fish are brought to this 
port, and a few are carried to New London. Until within a very 
few years nearly all were disposed of in this vicinity. About 
1864 a few were sent to Boston on trial, and the consumption of 
swordfish in that vicinity has since rapidly increased. Still, the 
principal market for fresh swordfish may be said to lie between 
New London and the eastern end of Massachusetts. Providence, 
R. I., consumes a large quantity.” 
Mr. Earll writes: “ About 2,000 swordfish, averaging in 
weight three hundred pounds dressed, have been landed yearly 
in Portland for several years. Most of them are sent to Bos- 
ton fresh, and the remainder are cut up and salted here.” 
Mr. Eugene G. Blackford informs me that the swordfish are 
not much esteemed in New York market, and that in 1874 not 
more than 2,000 pounds in the aggregate were consumed. 
PRICES. 
Regarding the price of tresh fish at New Bedford, Mr. Thomp- 
son remarks: “ When the fish arrives here it is eagerly sought 
at twenty cents a pound, retail. In 1873, within forty-eight 
hours of the arrival of the first one, fifty-two were brought 
in, bringing the general retail price down to eight and ten 
cents. At this price, clear of bone, they are usually retailed 
throughout the season. The wholesale price is about twelve 
cents for the first catch falling rapidly to two or three cents. 
This is for ‘clean fish,’ without head, tail, and viscera. Fish 
from George’s Bank are sometimes brought here from Boston. 
They then retail at fifteen and twenty cents.” 
According to the record of the Northern Eagle, the price in 
June, 1878, ranged from two to four and a half cents, in July 
* A swordfish weighing over seven hundred pounds was one of the sensations at Faneuil 
Hall Market last week.— Gloucester Telegraph, August 13th, 1870. 
