The Mackerel Fishery. 



67 



and the look-out man, who discovers them more readily 

 from an eminence, shouts at the extent of his lungs, the 

 boats are rapidly rowed around the feasting fish in a circle, 

 the nets cast, and then being hauled towards the shore by 

 men on land, some thousands of mackerel are enclosed in 

 a large bag at the extremity of the net. 



The demand for this fish is so great, that they are rarely 

 to be met with in the towns in the west. 



During 1869 the quantity of mackerel taken from Pen- 

 zance and St. Ives by railway amounted to 71,959 pads, or 

 161 7 tons; to May i, 1870, the quantity conveyed from 

 the same places amounted to 40,100 pads, or 871 tons. 



The Lowestoft Mackerel Fishery. — The mackerel voyage 

 on the east coast, even in its best days, was rarely re- 

 munerative either to owners or men ; more frequently the 

 amount realized barely paid charges for provisions, leaving 

 nothing for wages, or wear and tear of boats and nets. 

 The owners never expected much, and it was more to 

 keep their men in employment, than in anticipation of 

 profit, that this voyage was carried on for many years. 

 In 1854 there were 20 mackerel boats out of Lowestoft; 

 in 1862 these had decreased to three, and their gross 

 earnings averaged only £<^ per boat. 



In former years mackerel realized a large price ; now 

 the merchants have to compete with very fine fish caught 

 off the Irish coast near Kinsale, and also with the immense 

 numbers imported from Norway. These mackerel are 

 packed in ice, and find a ready market amongst the manu- 

 facturing towns, as well as in London. In 1874 Yarmouth 

 and Gorleston had a few boats engaged in this fishery for a 

 short time in the autumn ; i.e.^ nearly four months later 

 than the mackerel voyage of former years commenced. In 

 1875, 3926 long hundred (120) were caught, the average 



