THE MENHADEN FISHERY. 345 
“gear”; that is, in steamers, sailing vessels, small boats, and nets; an average of $27,800 to each 
for gear against $22,600 for factory. In Connecticut, according to Mr. Dudley, about the same 
proportion holds. 
ORGANIZATION OF THE FISHING GANGS.—“‘In the early days of the business,” says Mr. 
Dudley, “the manufacturers did not own the fishing vessels, nor were they interested pecuniarily 
in the fishery; they bought the fish from independent fishermen. This method was found unsatis- 
factory; the fishermen sold to the highest bidder, and the supply was uncertain. Of late years 
the company owns the vessels which supply it with fish. The crew work upon shares, as in other 
fisheries. In the settlement, at the end of the season, a sailing vessel, with seine and gear, draws 
one-third of the net proceeds; a steamer, one-half; the remainder is divided by the crew, the cap- 
tain receiving an ordinary share, in addition to which he is paid a salary by the company, either 
fixed or proportionate to the success of the season’s work. It is not uncommon for a successful 
captain to receive a bonus of $500, or sometimes $1,000. In settling the season’s account, the 
total catch is paid for at a rate proportionate to the yield of oil. In 1876, the Quinnipiac Fertilizer 
Company paid $1.25 per thousand. The company usually advances pay to the men to the extent 
of $1 a thousand, and at the end of the season a final settlement is made. The crew of a sailing 
vessel will average from $35 to $75 a month; the crew of a steamer somewhat more.” 
ADVANTAGES CLAIMED FOR FLOATING FACTORIES.—Floating factories were in use until 
recently chiefly on Long Island Sound; in whose protected waters they operate to great advantage. 
They have now gone out of use on account of the introduction of steamers. They were usually 
built upon the bull of some old vessel, and towed from point to point, gathering the fish from the 
smacks and working them up into oil and guano as they moved. Some of them were fitted up with 
machinery for very extensive manufacture. Two important objects were attained by the owners of 
floating factories: The objection to their business arisin g from the offensive odor was to a considera- 
ble extent removed; by following the movements of the fish time and expense were saved, for by 
bringing the factory to the fish they obviated the necessity of having a fleet of lighters to carry the 
fish to the factory, which might often require two or three days. There were five of these factories 
in 1878; one owned at Milford, Conn., and four at Greenport, N. Y. 
7. THE MENHADEN AS A BAIT FISH. 
THE USE OF MENHADEN FOR BAIT.—Menhaden bait, when obtainable, is extensively used in 
the cod fisheries of New England. Its popularity is no doubt chiefly due to the ease with which 
it may be obtained in large quantity, though its oily nature and strong odor render it particularly 
well adapted for use as a toll bait for mackerel. “Slivered porgies” are carried by the vessels 
fishing for cod on the Grand, Western, and George’s Banks. According to Capt. N. I. Atwood, 
salted menhaden are good bait for haddock, but inferior for cod. 
In the days of hooking mackerel thousands of barrels of menhaden were used for toll-bait, 
but the purse-seine has done away with the need of such bait, except in special cases. 
The menhaden were said to be superior to all other mackerel bait. They were ground up 
fine in a bait-mill and then thrown over with a bait-dipper. A great deal of testimony concern- 
ing the use of menhaden as mackerel bait was given before the Halifax Commission. 
THE TESTIMONY OF CANADIAN OFFICERS.—Mr. H. W. Johnson, of the Department of Marine 
and Fisheries, wrote, in 1868, a “Special Report on the Distress among the Nova Scotia Fishermen.” 
One of the reasons assigned by him for the failure of the fisheries is that “the pogies, the only 
real mackerel bait, is not caught east of Portland, and must all be imported for our fleet, the 
increased cost of which, added to the American duty, the fisherman has to pay on his share of 
