uwder water, of 1834, were more sensible, as well as more successtul, 

 than these speculators of former days, ^ 



THE HALIBUT FISHEEY. 



,The halibijt rfishery on George's Bank is a new enterprise. It was 

 commeoced within a few yeax.s by the adventurous fishermen of Cape 

 Ap,n. Pursued in mid- winter, it is as hazardous an employment as cap 

 w^ be imagined. 



While, the, fishery was confined to the coast, the consumption of the 

 fish, was very limited. In.Aprili 1843, the Norfolk Herald announced 

 that "Our market, yesterday morning, was enriched with a delicacy 

 firom the northern waters, th.e halibut — a strange Jish in these parts, Jcnpivn. 

 only to epipwes and natHLralysts^^ 



The Ne^y Orleans Picayune, in May of the, same year, contaaned a 

 similar paragraph. At, present, the fish, packed in boxes with ice, is 

 sent sound and s\yeet,, by, railroads and vessels, to the mo^t distant sec- 

 tions of the, country. 



Vessels employed on the bank .are absent from port fi-om six to four- 

 teen days. The average catch of halibut is perhaps two hundred to a 

 vessel, though .some obtain, double that number. Tne weight of the fish 

 is from fifty to two hundrcid pounds. 



For some time, dealers in Boston purchased, packed, arid .shipped 

 the fish almost, exclusively; but a company was finally formed at Glou- 

 cester for the purpose of tran?,ac,ting this part of the business, as weU' as 

 the other. The fishermen,, however, resort again to Boston; fo^ this 

 company, after losing ja considerable part of their capital, rehnquished 

 th?ir design. 



The growth of the fishery ha^ been rapid. The number, of vessels 

 emplcyed in it, owned at Gloucester, was thirty in 1844; sixty-three in 

 1848; and about seventy-five in April, 1852. The, present fleet con- 

 tains many new, weU-modeUed, and fast-sailing vessels.. The value of 

 the halibut caught in 1851 was upwards of sixty thousand dollars. 



The earnings, of the .vessels sent to the bank are generally ample; 

 but the fishery, is not p^rpfitable,. in consequence of thg extraordinary 

 wear and tear of sails and rigging,, apd the firfequent loss of cables and 

 anchors. More than all, hardly a season passes without appalling dis- 

 asters. Whenever a vessel is lost on George's, all on board perish. . 



An American citizen may contend, if he will, for the repeal of our 

 bounty laws ; he may favor a low duty, or no duty whatever, on foreign 

 fisbj ,but he is bound to honor the courage and, the perseverance of the 

 halibut catcher? of Cape Ann, who", mid the storms and gales . of a 

 northern wint.er, procure for him the luscious napes and ^ns which gar- 

 nish his. board. 



