984 REPORT OF THE. COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 
caught and sold fresh, chiefly for salting purposes, in Suffolk County 
was 210,000 pounds, $1,575; in Essex County, 1,215,000 pounds, 
$3,950, and in Barnstable County, 861,200 pounds, $2,630. The entire 
catch, except 30,000 pounds, was taken in pound nets. 
The Newfoundland herring fishery, so far as frozen herring are con- 
cerned, began in the winter of 1854-55, when a Gloucester vessel 
obtained part of acargo of frozen herring fron’ Newfoundland waters 
as an experiment, and sold them for bait at Boston and Gloucester. 
Since that time the fishery has grown to considerable proportions, and 
large quantities of these fish are now used both for food and bait. 
The fishery has been facilitated in recent years by theerection of cold- 
storage plants at the principal New England ports for the purpose of 
storing herring, squid, and other species for use as bait or food when 
needed. During the winter of 1902-8 the fleet from Massachusetts 
engaged in fishing for herring off the coast of Newfoundland num- 
bered 59 vessels, of which 56 were from Gloucester and 3 from 
Boston. The winter was unusually severe and herring were scarce 
and difficult to locate. Eight of the vessels from Gloucester were 
detained for months in the bays and harbors of Newfoundland by ice. 
Of the 59 vessels in the fleet, 10 made two trips and the remainder one 
trip each. Vessels that started early in the season made quick and 
profitable trips, but those that started and arrived later found a poor 
market for bait on account of an unusual abundance of squid in Massa- 
chusetts waters. Many of the vessels failed to secure full fares, and 
some of those detained by ice found their cargoes unfit for food or bait 
and sold them to fertilizer plants for 25 cents or less a barrel, while in 
a few instances the fish were thrown overboard before reaching port. 
The catch amounted to 23,576 barrels, or 5,359,763 pounds of fresh 
frozen herring, valued at $118,790, and 51,220 Panrele or 11,271,698 
pounds of salted herring, valued at $154,739; a total of 74,796 barrels, 
or 16,631,461 pounds, valued at $273,529. 
The erie of squid was 5,365,076 pounds, worth $25,340. Part of 
this quantity was sold op bet as taken from the water, and the 
remainder was frozen and held in cold storage for that purpose. The 
cod fishermen on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland have for many 
years depended on catching considerable quantities of squid on or near 
the fishing grounds for use as bait, but in 1902 the supply failed in 
those waters. In view of this searcity Capt. Solomon Jacobs, of 
Gloucester, before leaving on a trip for frozen herring, loaded his 
steam fishing vessel, the Alice IZ, Jacobs, at Provincetown, with 286,000 
pounds of frozen squid, bought from the cold-storage plants at that 
place, and carried the cargo to St. Pierre, where it was sold to the 
French fishermen for bait in the Grand Bank cod fisheries. This was 
the first cargo of frozen squid ever taken from Massachusetts to St. 
Pierre or elsewhere in that vicinity. 
