3 * 
of the mackerel by this method of fishing, and that 
appeal had been repeated at various times in the history 
of the fisheries, even down to the present time. In the 
American Court of the Exhibition could be seen a 
diagram showing the progress of the mackerel fishery, 
and the very great fluctuations which took place not 
only with reference to the quantity of fish caught, but 
the number of vessels employed. It would be noticed 
that in 1882 the catch was very much greater than in 
any previous year, so that the fears as to the destruc¬ 
tion of the fish did not seem to be well founded. Two 
methods of fishing were afterwards introduced ; first, the 
gill net or drag net, like that used in Cornwall, and which 
is still used to a limited extent at the present time. 
Another method introduced about the same time, and 
kept up for a considerable period, was what they called 
trailing, or dragging a bait after a vessel under sail. That 
was carried on until the beginning of this century, and 
it was not uncommon to see a vessel with four or five 
poles sticking out from it, to which the bait was attached. 
That was given up, however, fifty years ago. At the 
beginning of this century another form of apparatus came 
into use, which was exceedingly effective for a time, and 
it was during the prevalence of this method that the 
great fisheries in the United States and the Canadian 
waters sprung up which had led to so many treaties 
from 1865 to 1870. There were from 500 to 700, or even 
in some years 1000 American vessels in the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence fishing for mackerel, and this was called the 
mackerel hook fishery. It was conducted in this way : the 
fishermen took on board a hundred or more barrels of 
a very oily, fat fish called the menhaden, something like 
the pilchard. They ground it up fine and threw it out 
