164 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
one at Bound Pond, located in the old menhaden factory of E. Bight- 
man & Co., which was bought by Wolff & Reesing and fitted up for 
the canning of sardines and mackerel at an expense of $30,000. It 
had a capacity of 50,000 cases of mackerel per season, in addition to 
the sardines, and the steamer David H. Wilson was fitted out for 
purse-seining to supply the mackerel needed for the purpose^ Tbe weir 
fisheries of the regions in which this and the other unsuccessful fac- 
tories were located were not sufficiently extensive to keep them sup- 
plied with herring, though most of those who have given any attention 
to the matter agree that small herring are very abundant along nearly all 
portions of the coast of Maine east of the Penobscot River and in certain 
localities farther west. They seem to prefer a bold and rocky shore, with 
numerous islands and ledges, about which they gather in large schools 
for the purpose of feeding. Twenty years ago quite a number of weirs 
were fished along certain portions of the coast of eastern Maine, the 
catch being pressed for oil and fertilizer, and quite a profitable business 
was carried on ; but, with the decline in the price of oil, the weirs were 
abandoned, and during the years that have elapsed the fishermen of 
the coast have given no attention to the capture of these little fish, and 
seem to have quite forgotten that they were present in any quantities 
in the waters. Since the erection of sardine canneries a few of the 
fishermen have been induced to rebuild their weirs, and the herring 
prove to be fully as abundant now as formerly. Indications lead to the 
belief that within the next few years a large number of new factories 
will be built at various points between Eastport and the Penobscot, in 
which case Eastport will no longer control the^ sardine industry. 
During the season of 1886 herring suitable for canning have been 
exceedingly abundant all the way from Machias to Deer Isle. The 
weirs now existing, although in many instances provided with extra 
“pounds v in which the fish can be kept alive, have in a large number 
of cases been utterly unable to keep the fish which have entered them. 
This large run of sardine herring will doubtless stimulate the west- 
ward movement already begun, which will be further strengthened by 
the strong competition among the eastern factories, which leads them 
to pay the fishermen a very much larger figure for their fish than the 
business will warrant. The rivalry among the factories has of late*been 
on the increase, as one can not be contented to remain idle while*others 
are fully employed ; and if there is a tendency on the part of the* own- 
ers of a cannery to withdraw from competition, the workmen become 
dissatisfied and seek employment in the factories that are more con- 
stantly in operation. 
Eastport, if we include the villages of Lubec, Pembroke, and Rob- 
binston, only a few miles distant, is still the center of the industry ; 
and while the fisheries farther west arc at best only partially developed, 
those of Eastport and the surrounding islands of New Brunswick are 
developed to their fullest extent, and $ very large percentage, in fact a 
