THE MEI^HADEN FISHING-GEOUNDS. 77 



and possibly of seines, may result from the vessels being caught out ili a severe gale, the fishermen 

 are more cautious at the present time about remaining on George's in the fall than they were 

 formerly, when hooks and lines were the chief appliances of capture. 



Mackerel are occasionally found in abundance on Brown's Bank, situated northeast of George's 

 Bank, and on the Seal-Island Ground, bat their occurrence in great numbers in these localities 

 may- be regarded as exceptional rather than as the rule. Although the movements and abundance 

 of mackerel are subject to yearly variations of greater or less magnitude, it can be safely stated 

 that daring the months of June, July, and August, the following localities furnish the most import- 

 ant mackerel grounds on our coast : Oashe's Ledge and vicinity, covering an area about sixty or 

 seventy miles across, and having Oashe's Shoal as a center ; the vicinity of Monhegan Island, from 

 near Cape Elizabeth to Matinicus Eock, and from close in shore to a distance of forty miles off 

 shore; and the vicinity of Mount Desert Eock, from the rock to near the main land, and outward 

 from it in all directions for distances of twenty to twenty-five miles. 



In the fall, after the mackerel have begun their migrations toward the south and west, the 

 principal localities resorted to by the fishermen are successively as follows : Off Cape Elizabeth, 

 and about Boon Island, Maine; off Cape Ann, Massachusetts Bay, Barnstable Bay, and off the 

 outer side of Cape Cod. Fortunately, at this season, the mackerel usually follow the trend of the 

 shore, and strike into the larger bays which indent the coast line. This permits of the fishery 

 being carried on with little risk, at a period when severe gales are of frequent occurrence on the 

 ' New England coast, as the vessels are generally within easy reach of safe harbors. 



Efforts have been made from time to time to trace the movements of the schools of mackerel 

 after they have passed Chatham, Cape Cod, the last locality where they are generally caught in 

 the fall, but always without success. The failure of these attempts is chiefly due to two causes, 

 namely : first, the almost steady prevalence at that season of unfavorable weather for fishing oper- 

 ations ; and, second, the disinclination of the fishermen, at the close of the season, to push witli 

 their accustomed vigor an enterprise which appears to promise but slight money returns at the 

 most, and exposes them to great personal risk. 



THE MENHADEN GHOUNDS. 



The menhaden fishing-grounds of the eastern coast of the United States extend at the present 

 time (1883) from Chesapeake Bay to and including Long Island Sound, and, in some seasons, also 

 include a portion of Yineyard Sound, on the southern coast of Massachusetts. They are of limited 

 width, the fishery being rarely carried on at greater distances from land than ten to fifteen miles. 

 Their total area may be reckoned, in round numbers, at a.bout 5,350 square geographical miles, 

 which can be itemized as follows : Long Island Sound and the vicinity of Block Island, 1,200 

 square miles ; off the south side of Long Island, from Montauk Point to Sandy Hook, with an 

 average width of fifteen miles, 1,575 square miles ; off the New Jersey coast, from Sandy Hook to 

 Cape May, 1,575 square miles; Delaware Bay, 150 square miles; Cape Henlopen to Cape Charles, 

 with an average width of about two miles, 250 square miles ;i Chesapeake Bay, from the capes to 

 Tangier Sound, COO square miles. 



Formerly the menhaden fishery was carried on along a much greater range of coast, extending 

 from North Carolina to Mount Desert, Maine. Prior to 1879 menhatien occurred in great abund- 

 ance in the Gulf of Maine, and the bays and estuaries connected with it, from May to October, and 

 the waters of that region often seemed literally alive with the numerous lar^e schools, many of 



' Along this stretch of coast fishing for menhaden is carried on only to a limited extent, chiefly by means of seines 

 set from the beaches, and the area of the grounds is, therefore, very small considering their great length. 



