FISHEEIES OF THE NEW ENGLAND PjTATES. 289 



The fresh fish business of Boston centers at T wharf, where, unless 

 prevented by severe weather, vessels arrive from the fishing grounds 

 with fares of fish practicall}" every day in the 3'ear. The fleet owned 

 at Boston numbered 78 vessels, but fish are also landed there by an 

 equally large number of vessels from Gloucester, Provincetown, and 

 other ports along the coast. Largo quantities of fish are also brought 

 by steamboats and railroad trains, and l)y numerous small boats in the 

 shore fisheries. 



The fresh fish landed at Boston in 1902 by vessels owned there con- 

 sisted principall}^ of S,11G,063 pounds of cod, 430,900 pounds of cusk, 

 17,006,950 pounds of haddock, 5,150,600 pounds of hake, 881,500 

 pounds of pollock, 5,076,100 pounds of halibut, 1,073,631 pounds of 

 mackerel, and 281,000 pounds of herring, aggregating 38,020,341: 

 pounds, having a value to the fishermen of $958,959. The catch also 

 included fresh fish of other species and salted fish in smaller quantities. 

 The quantity of fish landed at Boston by American fishing vessels in 

 1902, including those from other ports, was 78,973,996 pounds, valued 

 at ^2,012,638, of which 77,608,596 pounds, |1, 994,198, were fresh, and 

 1,365,100 pounds, $18,410, were salted. The fish received from the 

 various sources are shipped to dealers in the towns and cities in the 

 New England States, to New York and other cities in the Middle 

 Atlantic States, and as far west as Denver, Colo. 



In the shore fisheries of Boston 128 Italian fishermen with 75 dories 

 engaged in catching flounders and other species. The only forms of 

 apparatus used were hand lines and short trawls. The fishermen 

 occup3^ fishing camps on the islands in Boston Harbor some 8 miles 

 from the city, and fish about eight months of the year. They sell 

 their fish at the head of T wharf by the piece, bunch, or small lot, 

 chiefly to bu3^ers of their own nationality. In 1902 the catch consisted 

 of flo\mders, 550,000 pounds, $22,000; cod, 100,000 pounds, $4,000; 

 haddock, 45,000 pounds, $1,350; pollock, 15,000 pounds, $450; and 

 whiting or silver hake, 30,000 pounds, $300; a total of 740,000 pounds, 

 with a value of $28,100. 



The clam fisheries in Boston Harbor are engaged in by 15 men with 

 10 dories. The greater part of the catch is taken during the summer, 

 although the fisherj^ is carried on to some extent at other seasons of 

 the A^ear when the weather permits. The boats usuall}" make four 

 trips a week and average 3 barrels of clams each to a trip. The clams 

 are taken at low tide from the mud flats in the harbor, which are also 

 worked more or less by a large number of fishermen who reside at the 

 various seaside resorts in that vicinit}^, where they market their catch. 

 The catch in 1902 was 11,520 bushels, valued at $5,760. 



Eels are taken about eight months of the 3'ear, in and near the 

 mouths of small streams emptjdng into Boston Harbor, by 15 fisher- 



F. C. 1904—19 



