THE MAOKEREL-HOOK FISHERY. 289 
engaged in mackerel fishing were generally accustomed to carry butts, in which the fish were 
salted. 
Capt. Chester Marr tells us that in the early days the mackerel fishermen made a practice of 
salting the mackerel in hogslieads, which were placed in the hold, standing on end, with stone 
ballast stowed in the “spaces” between them. When a vessel was loaded she would hold about 
10 butts, or about 50 ‘wash-barrels.” These butts were used until about 1850.* 
MACKEREL PLOWS.—The mackerel plows, to which frequent allusion has been made, are also 
known to the fishermen by several other names, such as rimmers, reamers, fatters, and fatting- 
knives, in the same and in different localities. The original object of using these instruments may 
be said to have becn a “ trick in the trade,” although the fact of their beiug employed at the pres- 
ent time is so well known that no one considers it any longer a secret, neither has it been for many 
years. The quality of mackerel is determined not only by thcir size, but also by the richness or 
fatness which they acquire as the season advances, and the opportunities for obtaining food are 
better than during the spring. In the spring, when they approach the coasts of the Middle States 
and Southern New England, they are in a poor and lean condition, and remain in such a state until 
after they have deposited their spawn. After the spawning season is over the schools then seek 
their favorite feeding grounds, and the fish soon begin to exhibit much improvement in their con- 
dition. During the month of June this improvement is first noticeable, and by the last of August, 
and sometimes even at an earlier date, the mackerel have arrived at their finest condition and re- 
main so until they leave the coast in the fall. As the fish fatten, the belly, or that portion which 
covers the abdominal cavity, increases in thickness, and the quality of the mackerel can be more 
easily and certainly determined by noticing this particular portion of it than in any other manner. 
The mackerel are invariably split along the back from the snout tothe tail in such a manner that 
they will lay open and flat after the viscera has been removed. It is a fact well known to persons 
familiar with this fish that when they are in a fat condition the sides of the abdominal cavity will 
crack open along the entire length when the fish are opened for the purpose of removing the 
viscera. The depth of these cracks or “breaks” shows the relative fatness of the fish. As these 
cracks occur about half way from the backbone to the center of the abdominal cavity, it will be 
readily seen that by using an implement for making the cracks a little above or nearer to the back- 
bone than where it would naturally be and where the belly is considerably thicker, it will give the 
fish the appearance of being much fatter than it really is. As previously stated, the depth of the 
* The largest of the mackerel schooners had sufficient capacity for stowing 20 or 25 butts, besides a number of 
barrels alongside of them in the wiugs on each side of the hold. 
When salting mackerel in these casks, the salters worked in the hold. A gib tub was filled with salt and set on 
top of the butts near the hatchway, and one man threw down the mackerel from the deck into the salt box (or gib 
tub) while two others standing alongside of the butts did the salting—one ‘‘rubbing” the fish and the other packing 
them away in the proper place. When the cask was full a large stone was pfaced on top of the fish to keep them 
beneath the brine so that they would not get rusty. Each man usually had a hogshead of his own for the reception 
of his fish; that is, if each of the crew kept his catch separate. At that time, however, it was quite generally the 
custom to “goon shares.” This term, as then understood, differed radically from what is now meant by the same 
expression, and may be described as follows: The crew were shipped as much upon their merits of good seamanship 
and steady habits as for their skill as fishermen. Each man was provided with a ‘‘strike tub”—a half hogshead— 
and for the first few days’ fishing the skipper would note the catch of each of the men, and from this comparison 
would decide what share every one should receive. Thus some half dozen, perhaps, in a crew of 12 or 14 men would 
be assigned a full share. Though there might be some difference in the relative catch of these men, it was thought 
fair to consider a capable and reliable man a full sharesman, though he caught somewhat less fish than another who 
might not be so well experienced in other matters. The remainder of the men were allowed three-fourths or one-half 
of a share, as the case might be, their expertness in catching fish and other qualifications always being taken into 
account in settling their relative standing. Thns, if a vessel had a crew of twelve men, six of whom were full shares- 
men, four three-quarter sharesmen, and two half sharesmen, there would be ten full shares, and a sharesmen would 
receive one-tenth of the crew’s half of the proceeds of the voyage, while those having a smaller ‘‘lay” would be paid 
accordingly. 
sECG y——19 
