THE PICKLED-HERRING TRADE. 459 
3.—THE PICKLED-HERRING TRADE WITH THE MAGDALEN 
ISLANDS, ANTICOSTI, NEWFOUNDLAND, AND LABRADOR. 
1. HISTORY OF THE FISHERY. 
ORIGIN AND GROWTH.—From the earliest settlement of the country, as is well known, the 
American fishermen have been accustomed to catch herring along the shores of New England, 
and in former years, when the demand was much greater than now, they often pickled or smoked 
considerable quantities for shipment to the larger markets, and quite a profitable business was 
developed. Before the close of the last century a number of American fishing vessels were 
engaged in the Grand Bank cod fisheries, and a little later some of them were accustomed to fish 
in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and along the coast of Labrador. 
Prior to the Revolution our fishermen had perfect freedom in common with all other subjects 
of Great Britain to catch and cure fish in any of the British North American waters, and the 
treaty of 1783 restored to us the right to engage in the fisheries of any part of “‘His Britannic 
Majesty’s dominion in America, and also the liberty to dry and cure fish in any of the unsettled 
bays, harbors, and creeks of Nova Scotia, Magdalen Islands, and Labrador so long as the same 
shall remain unsettled.” The convention of 1818, while it took from us the right to fish within 
three marine miles of the shore in many localities, retained for us the right to visit the western 
and a portion of the southern shore of Newfoundland, the Magdalen Islands, and Labrador. 
While engaged in the capture of codfish in these waters the crews of the American vessels came 
into intimate relations with the resident fishermen, and from them, as well as from their own 
observations, learned of the abundance of the various species at different seasons. 
One of the principal fishing grounds for cod was about the Magdalen Islands, where a large’ 
fleet of vessels resorted each spring and spent a greater part of the summer in catching their 
trips. The fishermen soon learned that the shores of these islands were favorite spawning- 
grounds for the herring, and that they “struck in” regularly each season about the Ist of May 
and remained in enormous numbers for several weeks. 
Though some of the fishermen had talked of making trips to the Magdalens, especially for 
herring, nothing seems to have been done toward the inanguration of the trade prior to 1822, 
when, according to Mr. William Webb, of Deer Isle, Me., the first cargo of Magdalen herring 
was brought to the United States by Capt. Jonathan Carleton, of Isle aun Haut, Me. He arrived 
at the Magdalens in the early spring for a fare of codfish, but finding them scarce it occurred to 
him that it would be an excellent time to try the experiment of carrying home a load of herring. 
He. therefore secured 350 barrels, which he landed at Isle au Haut, to be smoked for the Boston 
market. His venture proved a very profitable one, and the following year two or three sail were 
sent from the locality to the Magdalens for the same purpose. A year or two later vessels were sent 
from Deer Isle, Fox Island, Mount Desert, Lubec, and Eastport, and within a few years the business 
had spread so as to include a large number of the principal fishing towns between Eastport and 
Cape Cod. From 1858 to 1865 the business was particularly prosperous, and a fleet of about fifty 
vessels went annually to the region, bringing home full fares, which were sold to good advantage. 
The Labrador herring fisheries were probably developed in a similar manner to those of the 
Magdalen Islands. By the beginning of the present century a small number of American vessels 
