34 



History and Legislation. 



Early colonial records refer to the alewife as providing food 

 for the first inhabitants of New England, and from the time 

 when Samoset first taught the Pilgrims the method of fertiliz- 

 ing corn fields, this fish has had a considerable influence on the 

 welfare of the country. Then the supply of fish was greatly in 

 excess of the needs of the population, and every inhabitant 

 who was a householder had the right of free fishing and fowling 

 in any great ponds, bays, coves and rivers, as far as the sea 

 ebbed and flowed. Higginson's "New Englands Plantation" 

 mentions, in 1630, "Also here is abundance of herring" in the 

 waters of New England, and Thomas Morton in his "New 

 English Canaan," in 1632, remarks, "of herring there is a 

 great store, fat and fair, and to my mind as good as any I have 

 seen, and these may be preserved and made a good commodity 

 at the Canaries." 



Generally the alewife fisheries have passed through three 

 periods, — development, state of maximum productivity and 

 decline. From humble beginnings the fisheries became impor- 

 tant public assets fostered by the shore towns. The period of 

 transient prosperity was ordinarily followed by a decline in the 

 natural supply, particularly on the more thickly settled streams, 

 which was noticed as early as 1815. According to the records 

 of The Colonial Society of Massachusetts: — 



In the year 1730, the inhabitants (Plymouth) were ordered not to take 

 more than four barrels each, a large individual supply indeed, compared 

 with the present period (1815), when it is difficult for a householder to 

 obtain two hundred alewives, seldom so many. 



In spite of the attention given to the alewife fishery, this 

 decline was permitted to extend until, in but few instances the 

 old prosperous conditions have been maintained. 



Our forefathers were not slow to recognize the importance 

 of the alewife, and for its protection early passed many legisla- 

 tive acts, which best illustrate the history of the fishery. For 

 the most part these laws were local and especially adapted to 

 the needs of the individual fisheries. The first fishery law, 

 known as the Plymouth Colony Fish Law, was enacted in 



