24 
THE BOOK OF FISHES 
Ewing Galloway 
BUYERS MATCHING FINGERS IN THE DIVISION OF BARRELS OF FISH AMONG THEM 
“Mora,” or finger matching, is a very old Italian game. It is played either for wagers or for fun and 
the Italians are very skillful at it. Shore Haddock, landed only a few hours after being caught, enjoy an 
eager demand at twice the price of offshore Haddock. 
The Atlantic Salmon has disappeared 
from many rivers. Along the Maine 
coast the catch has dwindled to one-sev¬ 
enth of what it was in 1889. The Hou- 
satonic, the Thames, and the Saugatuck 
are Connecticut rivers that once were na¬ 
tionally famous for their Salmon, but 
which now yield none. 
The Shad is going the way of the Sal¬ 
mon. The supply in the Potomac and the 
Susquehanna is gradually declining. In 
the Connecticut River the catch in 1923 
was only one-tenth as large as that of 
1903. The Hudson and the Merrimac 
know this fish no more. 
Similarly alarming conditions occur 
among other species. The Smelt has dis¬ 
appeared from the Naugatuck, the Striped 
Bass from the lower Hudson and the 
East River. Twenty years ago as many 
Weakfish were caught off the northern 
New Jersey shore in a week as now are 
taken in a season. 
The same condition prevails in the 
shellfish fisheries. Oysters, in spite of 
Governmental and State watchfulness., 
are disappearing from beds where once 
they were plentiful. 
The story of the constant yearly deple¬ 
tion of the Lobster fishery is told in every 
area where the fishery exists. 
THE DECLINE OF THE LOBSTER FISHERY 
In colonial times Lobsters were so plen¬ 
tiful that even the poorest of the people 
might feast to their heart’s content on this 
succulent crustacean. 
Even as late as 1889 the catch in the 
United States reached a total of 30,000,- 
000 pounds, which sold for |8oo,ooo— 
less than three cents a pound. Ten years 
later the catch was only half as large, 
while the price had more than doubled. 
In 1880 Maine produced 14,234,000 
pounds, which sold for less than two cents 
a pound, as compared with 5,545,000 
pounds in 1922, which sold at 26 cents a 
pound at the wharf, and heaven only 
knows at how much to the ultimate con¬ 
sumer. The catch of Maine alone, in 1880, 
was greater than the total catch from Dela¬ 
ware Bay to the Canadian shore in 1922. 
