THE SOUTHERN SPRING MACKEREL FISHERY. 
195 
carry salt for preserving a part of the catch. On April 20, 1872, this vessel landed 
10,802 mackerel at New York, which netted the fishermen $1,372.05. This first trip 
was followed by others, and the vessel closed the spring fishery witii a large stock. 
The success of the Dreadnaiuilit caused other vessels to fit out with purse seines the 
following year, and soon the seining fleet became quite large. 
The first vessels landing fresh mackerel in New York took the fish with jigs, and 
the daily catch was comparatively small ; and as the fish had to be carried to market 
soon after being caught, in order to arrive in a fresh condition, the fares were corre- 
spondingly small. After the introduction of the purse seine the jiggers were placed 
at a disadvantage, and in a short time the jigging fleet discontinued the selling of 
fresh mackerel in New York, leaving the trade e.xclusively to the vessels carrying 
seines, which often caught several hundred barrels at a single haul and had a cargo 
of i)erfectly fresh fish to take to market. 
The number of cargoes of fresh mackerel landed in New York was at times so large 
that the market was often overstocked, and it then became necessary to find other 
outlets for the catch. Philadelphia came to be the headquarters of a small fleet, and 
the larger cities of southern New England also received the product of some of the 
vessels. The trade, however, was always practically controlled by New York, and 
from 70 to 90 per cent of the output was annually handled in that city. 
With the growth of the fishery and with increased facilities for liandling the fish 
the range of distribution of the catch has been much extended. While a large per- 
centage of the mackerel has always been consumed locally in New York, Brooklyn, 
Jersey City, and the other cities adjacent to the metropolis, considerable quantities 
have been shipped to Baltimore and Washington in the South, to Chicago and occa- 
sionally Denver in the West, and to Boston, Portland, and Canada in the North. In 
order to deter the decom])osition of the fish it has been found desirable to gib those 
intended for shipment to more distant places, and this commendable practice is now 
universally adopted. Gibbing consists in removing the gills and abdominal viscera 
without opening the fish, the parts being drawn out through the gill-cavity by 
inserting one or two fingers under the gill-arches. After being eviscerated the fish are 
packed in barrels containing an abundance of ice, and usually reach their destination 
in a good state of preservation. 
The schools of mackerel usirally approach the coast of the United States iii the 
latter part of March or early in April, and are generally first seen by the fishermen 
off the coast of North Carolina, in the region of Cape Hatteras. The principal part 
of the fleet sails in time to meet the fish off the capes of Virginia or south of Cape 
Henlopen. The fish are followed northward along the shore until they reach the 
neighborhood of Block Island and No Man’s Land, when the southern spring fishery 
may be said to be over. The mackerel have often made their advent in immense 
schools, pursued by the concentrated fleet, and from 50 to 100 vessels have been 
observed within an area of 20 square miles. 
There is some rivalry among the fishermen as to who shall obtain the first fare, 
which is heightened by the knowledge that the first vessel to arrive in port will find 
an excellent market and have ready sale at very high prices. In calm weather the 
desire to reach New York when a cargo is obtained sometimes leads fishermen to 
charter a tug at points far down on the New Jersey coast, but this is usually deferred 
until the neighborhood of Sandy Hook is reached, from which place towage to the city 
may be had for $15 or $20. 
