268 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 
6. RUNNING FOR THE MARKET. 
Those mackerel schooners engaged in market fishing find it desirable to make their passages 
with the utmost speed, but rapid passages in summer are, of course, much less dangerous than 
those made in winter by the haddock and halibut vessels. Great expedition is used by all mackerel 
vessels, since the season is short, and they feel obliged to take advantage of every opportunity. 
In the case of salted fish, however, there is no such anxiety to sell, and the chief desire of the 
skipper is to land his fish and to return to the fishing ground with no unnecessary loss of time. 
It often happens that mackerel-catchers who are not engaged in the fresh-fish trade take a big 
haul, 200 barrels or so, when they have but few barrels to put them in and scarcely any salt. In 
such cases it is of the highest importance to reach home if possible, or at least some large fishing 
port where barrels and salt can be obtained, and all the sail that can be spread or that the vessel 
will carry is set. 
7. LANDING THE CARGOES. 
The mackerel are hoisted out on the wharf by a horse, the duty of the crew being to hook on 
the barrels and to roll them -to the proper places on the wharf, after they are landed, where the 
barrels are generally stowed on their heads, ready to be opened. In seasons of abundance, and . 
when the men have become exceedingly fatigued from their labors in catching and dressing a fare 
of mackerel, it is often the case-that the skipper will hire a number of longshoremen to take the 
fish out of the vessel. At such times, too, the shoresmen are employed to plow the fish, and also to 
assist in packing them, since the fishermen find it more profitable to hire men to do this than to 
remain ashore and do it themselves. For in the mean time they may be fortunate enough to catch 
a fare of two or three hundred barrels of mackerel. 
In the days of hook-and-line fishing, the landing and packing of mackerel was carried on much 
more leisurely than at present. At first it was customary for the men composing a crew to hoist 
the mackerel out on the wharf by tackles; but within the last fifteen or twenty years it has 
been found more profitable to employ a horse for this purpose, since the work of discharging can 
be carried on much more rapidly than before and with less tax upon the strength of the men. The 
several processes of unheading the barrels, culling, weighing, and packing the mackerel are fully 
described in another chapter, and need not be repeated here. 
8. FINANCIAL PROFITS OF SEINING. 
The following tables, copied from the annual reports of the Boston Fish Bureau, show the large 
catches and “stocks” by the mackerel fleet in New England waters for the seasons of 1880 and 1881: 
Vera asa | Sea 
1880. 
Schooner Alice, Capt. H. B. Joyce, Swan’s Island, Me .......cseeceeees 3,700 | $19, 548 75 
Schooner Edward E. Webster, Capt. S. Jacobs, Gloucester, Mass ....-.. 38, 969 19, 465 00 
Schooner Alice C. Fox, Captain Rowe, Portland,Moe...............s00.-)s-----.20- 18, 432 00 
Schooner Louis and Rosa...-... cece scennecennceccence cnceee connec cecnee 2, 769 12, 492 00 
Schooner Frank Butler Arabs chute aia tesa Suicin wdjesicidcidin see enceecdeau bende wlendae 2, 036 11, 600 00 
Schooner Mary Greenwood ....00.cececccescccnesccancesencce coccccaccces 1, 700 11, 035 00 
HEMOOHED BWte PlOPENS «sanu on cnsnceancinayicweeewduwaanwndewad-cacndennees 2, 500 11, 000 00 
Schooner Addie F. Cole ... 2.2... 20.22. .2ecccceneccscceuc ceccucaceececeas 1, 900 10, 500 00 
Schooner Cora Lee + c:<25 sic seevnciesseesdsensacosit ede snvcsuadescdeeuex 1, 875 10, 250 00 
Schooner Cora Smith ............ 2, 150 10, 000 00 
Schooner M. O. Curtis...-.. 02.22. .cecce cee ceeecececceccnccenee sae 2,000 | 10,000 00 
Schooner Mary Snow .........-.0...0ccceeeue wate 1, 852 9, 281 00 
Schooner F. F. Nickerson — 2, 350 9, 730 00 
Schooner Dictator............. 1, 652 9,213 00 
Schooner Morning Star.......... 222+ ceceeeecenecsccnccccccncccuuuececace 1,527 9, 087 00 
