264 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
Secretary Dimick of the Boston Fish Bureau, under date of December 30, 1924, 
is the authority for the following statements concerning shipments of smelts from 
Canada, Newfoundland, and Maine: 
Canada . — The Canadian smelts are exported largely to the Boston and New York markets. 
The catch for the nine months ended September 30, 1924, amounted to 60,783 hundredweights 
valued at $563,299, compared with 32,450 hundredweights, valued at $377,573, in the same period 
in 1923. The total catch in Canada for 1923 amounted to 62,254 hundredweights, value $868,629, 
compared with 83,268 hundredweights, value $934,608, in 1922. 
Newfoundland . — During the winter of 1923-24 there were exported from Newfoundland 99,825 
pounds of smelts, valued at $10,460, compared with 118,832 pounds in the previous winter, valued 
at $12,189. 
Maine . — It is estimated that 10,000 boxes of smelts, or about 300,000 pounds, are received at 
Boston in a season from Maine, valued at $66,000. The total production in Maine probably would 
amount to 700,000 or 800,000 pounds, as a good many are sent from there to New York. 
As about all of the Canadian and Newfoundland smelts are sent to the Boston and New York 
markets, the above figures will give you some idea of the receipts of smelts. 
According to the Canadian Fisherman for June, 1924 (p. 169), the smelt-fishing 
season in the Miramichi fishery of New Brunswick extends from the 1st of Decem- 
ber until the 15th of February, leaving an open season of only about two and one-half 
months. Most of the fishing is done at night at the “turn of the tide,” and the 
catch per net in one night’s fishing has ranged from 100 pounds to 2 tons, for which 
the fishermen got from 8 to 14 cents a pound, the average for the season being around 
10 cents. The account went on to say: 
The Miramichi smelt fisherman makes his home on the ice near his nets during the fishing 
season. Small tar papered shacks are hauled to the most convenient places and here the fishermen 
make their home. “Smelt Shanties” as they are called, have room for only two and despite the 
coldest weather are always warm and comfortable and once inside the shanty, though the wind 
may blow its hardest the hardy fisher folk live in peace and comfort. 
Bag nets and box nets are both used but the bag net seems to hold the favor. It has a mouth 
about twenty feet square with a trailer of about forty feet, at the end of which is located a trap 
in which the smelts are taken. To empty the net one closes the mouth, fishes up the trap, unties 
the end and empties his catch on the ice. Here they are sorted, for in addition to smelts, the fish- 
erman is always assured of a generous catch of tom cod and flounders — their value is very low, 
ranging from $1.25 to $2.00 per barrel — and these are generally marketed in Upper Canada. 
The smelt, however, finds its favor with our neighbors to the south, and so highly is it prized, 
that it, almost alone, is exempt from the Fordney Tariff of 1 c. to 2 c. per lb. as is imposed on other 
fish. During the season just closed there were shipped to the United States from the Miramichi 
district alone a total of over 4,347,000 lbs. of smelts, with a total declared value of approximately 
$711,052 in United States currency. 
Let us place the Canadian consumption at one-tenth of that shipped to the United States — 
a prominent fishermen places this as a very conservative estimate — and we can easily put the catch 
for the season of 1923-24 at 4,782,000 lbs. and the value at $782,157.00. To this add the ex- 
change at the current rate for the United States shipments and we find that during the past 
winter the smelt fishing industry was worth upwards of $800,000 to the Miramichi, or over $10,000 
for every day of the fishing season. Sunday included. 
To sum up the matter— the smelt fishing industry is one of the biggest industries in the prov- 
ince to-day and one of the least heard of. Unlike the lumber industry, it is growing enormously, 
and with proper regulations is practically inexhaustible. It deserves more sympathy and support 
than it now receives from the residents of the Miramichi and the province of New Brunswick in 
general. 
