THE MA CKEREL AND ITS ALLIES. 
169 
The wonderful abundance of Mackerel in the Western Atlantic has 
always been a subject of remark. Francis Higginson, in his “ Journal of 
his Voyage to New England, 1629,” speaks of seeing “ many schools of 
Mackerel, infinite multitudes on every side of our ship,” off Cape Ann on 
the 26th of June ; and Richard Mather, in his journal, 1635, states 
that the seamen took abundance of Mackerel off Menhiggin (Monhegan). 
In Gov. Winthrop’s journal, speaking of the year 1639, he remarks : “ There 
was such a store of exceeding large and fat Mackerel upon our coast this 
season as was a great benefit to all our Plantations, since one Boat with 
three men would take in a week ten hogsheads, which were sold at Con¬ 
necticut for ^3 12s. od. per hogshead.” 
Their abundance has varied greatly from year to year, and at times their 
numbers have been so few that grave apprehensions have been felt lest 
they should soon depart altogether. 
As early as 1670, laws were passed by the colony of Massachusetts for¬ 
bidding the use of certain instruments of capture, and similar ordinances 
have been passed from time to time ever since. The first resource of our 
State governments has always been, in seasons of scarcity, to attempt to 
restore fish to their former abundance by protective legislation. It seems 
to us at the present day absurb that the Massachusetts people should have 
supposed that the use of shore-seines was exterminating the Mackerel on 
the coast of Massachusetts, but it is a fair question whether their appre¬ 
hensions were not as well grounded as those of legislators of the present 
century who have endeavored to apply a similar remedy for a similar evil. 
In the author’s writings upon “ The Mackerel Fishery” published else¬ 
where, is shown a diagram, which, by means of curves, exhibits the catch 
of Mackerel in New England for a period of seventy-five years. 
From a study of this it seems quite evident that the periods of their 
abundance and scarcity have alternated with each other without reference 
to overfishing or any other causes which we are prepared to understand. 
In the year 383,548^2 barrels of Mackerel were caught by the citizens of 
Massachusetts. In 1881 the number of barrels salted was 269,495 ; to 
this, however, should be added 125,000 barrels caught and marketed 
fresh by the Massachusetts fleet, making an aggregate of 394,495 barrels. 
The stories which are told by experienced fishermen of the immense 
numbers of Mackerel sometimes seen are almost incredible. Capt. King 
Harding, of Swampscott, Mass., described to me a school which he saw 
