THE MENHADEN FISHERY. 349 
ter had in 1877 about 60 “ mackerel-hookers,” using about 2,400 barrels of slivers, while its seining 
fleet used about 2,000 barrels more. 
Capt. Sylvanus Smith, of Gloucester, stated to the Halifax Commission that a vessel fitting 
out for a four months’ trip to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence would need to be supplied with 40 
barrels of pogy bait, worth $4,a barrel, making $240, and 10 barrels of salt clams, worth $8 a 
barrel, making $80.* 
Major Low’s statement, copied from the trip-book of the schooner Oliver Eldridge,t shows 
that she fitted out with 55 barrels of slivered pogies, at $6.50 a barrel, making $357.50, and 7 
barrels of clams, at $6, making $42. 
The amount of these outfits is much greater than that upon which the above estimate was 
made. 
The entire amount used in the mackerel fishery in 1877 probably did not exceed 8,000 or 9,000 
barrels of slivers, or 24,000 to 27,000 barrels of ‘round fish.” 
CONSUMPTION BY THE CONNECTICUT SMACKS.—In 1878 there were seven Connecticut smacks 
fishing for the flounder (Chenopsetta ocellaris) in Long Island and Block Island Sounds. Five of 
these hailed from Noank, one from Mystic, and one from New London. Captain Ashby states 
that these smacks average one trip every tour or five days for five months (May to September inclu- 
sive). They use only menhaden bait; about one barrel each trip, or perhaps 150 barrels in the season. 
About sixteen Noank and four New London smacks fish for sea-bass. Each carries two or 
three barrels of menhaden bait each trip, making an aggregate annual amount of about 1,000 
barrels. 
CONSUMPTION BY THE NEW YORK HALIBUT FLEET.—The New York halibut fleet of eleven 
vessels, owned at Noank, New London, and Greenport, uses only menhaden bait, which is iced 
fresh in the vessels’ holds. A vessel carries from 6,000 to 10,000 fish on each trip, and makes 
five or six trips. The aggregate number of menhaden thus used is perhaps 480,000, or 1,400 
barrels. The usual price is $4 a thousand. 
" ANNUAL SALE OF BAIT BY THE MAINE MANUFACTURERS.—The Menhaden Oil and Guano 
Manufacturing Association of Maine sold for bait: 
Barrels of fish. 
Lf] <2 Saco ee nO ER OEE SCNT Efe] TNE CHE OH SLO YS POO) ARES ER PINSRS TEASE Ne LE 2,977 
In 1874....... ica ceataaaiscnansies : . 10, 400 
In 1875... Aerhatie A PR EENOEE ANe eete 10, 752 
In 1876.. anes ees 8, 432 
TT g aan Uelacennensen 10, 795 
THE CONNECTICUT METHOD OF ICING BAIT.—A peculiar method of preserving the unsalted 
menhaden is made use of on board the Connecticut halibut-eatchers. The fish, after being very 
carefully cleaned and eviscerated, are packed with pounded ice in bins holding about 125 cubic 
feet (about 5 feet in each dimension). A ground-layer of ice-blocks 12 inches thick is first laid, 
then a tier of fish consisting of two layers and about 4 inches thick, then a layer of 4 inches of 
pounded ice, and so on until the bin is filled, after which its sides are packed with pounded ice 
-and covered with canvas. Seven to ten thousand fish are thus stowed in one bin. The stowing 
having been completed, the fish and ice freeze together in a solid mass, which is left untouched 
until the fishing-banks are reached. 
Their supply of bait being thus secured, the vessels are never obliged to make harbor in search 
* Documents and Proceedings of the Halifax Commission, 1877, Vol. III, p. 2547. 
+ Which sailed for the Bay of Saint Lawrence August 5, 1875 (absent two months and twenty-eight days), arrived 
at Gloucester November 2, 1875, stocking $1,771.83, or 224 barrels of mess mackerel. 
{ Documents and Proceedings of the Halifax Commission, 1877, Vol. III, p. 2602. 
