HISTORY OF THE FISHES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 61 



By the " Statistical Tables '' drawn op by the Secretary of State^ from the reports upon 

 the various branches of industry, by the assessors of the different townSj it appears that 

 the number of barrels of mackerel taken in the year 1837, with their prices, were as fol- 

 low^s : — Whole number of barrels, 234,059 ; value, $ 1,639,042. Taken by the follow- 

 ing counties: Barnstable Co,, 76,036 ; valued at j$' 490,638. Essex Co., 69,599 == 

 ^$618,663. Suffolk Co., 43,266 = ^'320,165. Plymouth Co., 25,258 = S 179,748. 

 Norfolk Co., 18,450 = ^120,528. Middlesex Co., 1,000 = ^6,000. Bristol Co., 

 450 = $ 3,300. 



From the same source, for the year ending April 1st, 1845, we collect the following 

 facts : — Whole number of barrels of mackerel taken, 86,628 ; value, $ 637,052. Taken 

 by the following counties : Essex Co., 30,247 ; valued at $ 234,385. Barnstable Co., 

 29,407 = 1207,145. Plymouth Co., 10,388 = ,^74,191. Norfolk Co., 8,859 = 

 ^56,583. Suffolk Co., 7,455 = ^63,118. Dukes Co., 217 = ,$'1,300. Middlesex 

 Co., 55 = ^330. 



I have not been able to ascertain with accuracy the number of vessels engaged exclu- 

 sively in this fishery. In many towns, the same vessels arc used, at different seasons of 

 the year, for the cod as well as the mackerel fishery. I have ascertained, however, that 

 there were two hundred and two vessels employed in this fishery in 1 836 in the county 

 of Barnstable, and that of this number ninety-eight belonged to Provincetown, which 

 were valued at ^147,000. 



It might be inferred, from an examination of the above table of the numbers of mack- 

 erel inspected in different years, that in some seasons fewer vessels were engaged in the 

 business, or that it was considered at such periods of less importance than at others ; this, 

 however, is not a correct conclusion. In some seasons immense shoals of these fish 

 are readily met with, and the vessels return in a few weeks with full cargoes ; while the 

 same localities may be visited at other seasons and the efforts of the fisherman prove 

 fruitless, and his fare meagre. 



So peculiar are the habits of this species, that oftentimes weeks may pass, the fishing- 

 smacks be surrounded by millions sporting upon the surface of the ocean, and scarce one 

 allow itself to be taken ; while, again, the success of a few days will nearly retrieve the 

 disappointments of a season. 



Thus a fisherman informed me that, in the year 1837, having been to the Bay of 

 Chaleur, and taken but few fish, the vessel to which he belonged was returning home, 

 when, off Cape Cod, the fish were so numerous and voracious, that the crew, consisting 

 of ten men, captured in two hours nearly thirty barrels of them. At this time about two 

 hundred smacks were together, and they were all equally successful, some of them taking 

 even forty barrels of fish in the same period. 



