FISHERIES OF THE NEW ENGLAND STATES. 291 
20 beam trawls, $1,390. In the shore fisheries there were 16 pound 
nets, $28,300; hand and trawl lines worth $6,890; 30 beam trawls, 
$1,800; 288 gill nets, $2,304, and 318 lobster pots, $218. The gill nets 
used in the vessel fisheries are drift nets, and are known locally as 
‘‘drag gill nets.” They average about 242 feet in length, 80 meshes 
or 20 feet in depth, and the size of the mesh is 3 to 34 inches stretched. 
They were first used in the mackerel fishery of Massachusetts in June, 
1845, by Capt. N. E. Atwood, who fished them in Provincetown Har- 
bor. When operated, a number of the nets are fastened together, 
making a continuous net a half mile to a mile in length, which is sup- 
ported by buoys. The vessel, with the net attached, drifts with the 
tide, sails being used when necessary. These nets are usually fished 
at night, and are sunk deep enough below the surface of the water to 
avoid being damaged or destroyed by passing vessels. The catch 
taken with drift gill nets in 1902 was 619,100 pounds of mackerel and 
herring, valued at $26,810. The investment in the fisheries and 
wholesale fishery trade of Provincetown was $457,660. The products 
of the fisheries, which were marketed chiefly at Boston, amounted to 
23,311,009 pounds, valued at $529,244. Of this quantity 15,618,497 
pounds, valued at $433,075, was taken by vessels, and 7,692,512 pounds, 
valued at $106,169, by boats in the shore fisheries. The larger vessels 
land their catch at Boston direct from the fishing grounds, and the 
products taken by small vessels and boats are shipped to Boston and 
New York on a fast fish train that leaves Provincetown daily. 
The use of beam trawls in the flounder fishery at Provincetown and 
vicinity is also an interesting feature of the fisheries of Barnstable 
County. ‘This apparatus is not used elsewhere in the United States in 
the commercial fisheries. The number of beam trawls in the entire 
county has increased since 1898 from 27, valued at $1,610, to 65, valued 
at $3,205, and the catch, consisting wholly of flounders, from 766,850 
pounds, $8,564, to 1,419,809 pounds, $43,169. These nets cost about 
60 each. The beam is from 20 to 30 feet long, the net or bag 75 feet 
long, and the size of mesh 34 inches stretched. The flounders taken 
average about a pound in weight. They continue to be plentiful on 
the sandy bottoms of Provincetown Harbor and Cape Cod Bay. 
Bristol County was third in importance in the extent of its fisheries. 
The number of persons employed was 1,262, the investment was 
$603,701, and the products amounted to 6,289,554 pounds, valued at 
$446,329. The number of vessels was 34, valued at $137,850; their 
net tonnage was 4,104 tons, and the value of their outfit $205,060. 
The number of boats in the shore fisheries was 355, valued at $13,675; 
the fishing apparatus on vessels and boats was valued at $6,175; the 
shore property at $98,441, and the cash capital was $142,500. 
The whale fleet of New Bedford in 1902 numbered 21 vessels of 
