Connecticut western news., 1873-09-05
The Original Mackerelville.

Catching MackereI-Where 1t is Dom
 and HOw-The Process of Curing.
 The mackerel fisheries of Massa
 chusetts have gradually grown in i'm
 portance until the catch of 1872 ha'
 come to reach the handsome aggregate
 of lS1, ,967 barrels, of the estimated
 value of $Ss2, ,O0O, ,000 or more. A century
 or so ago this industry, if such word
 can properly be applied to anything ir
 the piscatorial line-yielded in that
 State 190,000 barrels, worth $SO,OOO
 Cape Ann has long been prominent as
 a headquarters for this particular school
 of fishermen, and for at least fifty years
 this prominence has been maintained.
 The old-fashioned process of catching
 mackerel in seines or weirs and by trol.
 ling has given way under the march of
 progress, and now swift-sailing vessels
 fully furnished with men, lines, hooks,
 and bait do what Western men would
 call landoffice business in seducine
 the toothsome mackerel from his home
 In the briny deep. These vessels have
 @ complement of from ten to sixteen
 men each, and start out from Cape Ann
 about the middle of April, so as to meet
 the fish when they first strike the coast
 line. The work is done on the copart-
 nership principle, and each man has his
 appointed place on board, the locality
 being determined by lot. Here he
 keeps his tackle, and from this one spot
 he invariably sends forth his enticing
 invitations to the fnny tribe to meet
 him alone, whether by moonlight or daylight. Each fisherman uses from two to four lines, according to his skill,
 and the fish are inveigled to their fate i by gratuitous and discriminating sys- tenn of trolling, whereby their tastes are tickled into that anxiously inquiring state which stops not to discuss the points of danger, but gulps down hook and bait at one fell swoop. A corres- pondent of the Boston Traveler, who evidently looks at matters from the professional standpoint, thus describes the subsequent proceedings:
 The fish are swiftly hauled aboard and " struck" into the ".wash barrel, !" which stands little to the left and rear of each man, with peculiar twitch, which tears the hook from the weak cartilage of the jaw of the fish, and re- turns the line to its proper position among the thirty or forty hanging over the side. The hooks are small, and their shanks surrounded with lead and pewter, cast in a rude resemblance to the body of minnow, finished and polished to shine like silver. Several small circular bits of the white skin from the belly of mackerel form a bait very attractive, and so tough that dozens of fish may be caught without renewing it. It may well be questioned whether even the much-extolled plea- sures of fy-fshing can exceed in inter- est and excitement the keen enjoyment of sharp "spurt of mackerel, when the most skillful fisher can use but two lines, and these even are shortened to less than 8 couple of fathoms.
 The cruise of many of these fishing vessels lasts till November, and includes the Bay of St. Lawrence, Prince Ed wards Island, the Madelines, Anticosti, Gaspe, the Seven Islands, and the northern coast of Cape Breton and Nova Scotia. Returning in November, at the latest, the fish are landed and put in shape for market, which process is thus detailed by the correspondent above referred to: ... ,.l....--- a
 Mackerel, unlike cod, are split from nose to tail, close to the backbone, the cut entering the hollow of the body of the fish. The "splitter holds the fish on it's side with the mittened left hand and makes one clean slice to each mackerel, guiding and regulating the varying depth of his cut with the thumb. With the thin, small, round pointed knife used, fifty fish per min ute are often attained by practiced hand. The entrails and gills are re- moved and the fish thrown into " wash barrels" where they lie in sea water for some hours until all blood is extracted, after which they are packed, salted and "pickled off," If there is time and the mackerel are large and fat, the crew work at messing" them, which con- sists in removing the head, and cleans ing the fatter portions of the fish from | the black pellicle lining the walls of the abdomen.
 When "packed out" in port, each mans catch, which is kept separate in marked barrels, is weighed, salted, packed, and inspected, and branded as either No. 1, 2, 3, or "mess," as the case may be. No. 3s must measure eleven inches from snout to base of tail; No, 2s, twelve inches, and No. 1s,' thir- teen inches but certain fatness must accompany the required length in Is and 2s. Mess mackerel and Extra Is are of course all "culled from No. 1 fish. Formerly the fatness of this fish was tested by drawing the nail along the inside of the ribs and bending the fish a little, when the white fat would ,leave something like ripe peach, this adding greatly to the beauty of the fish md enhancing it's value. All American ish are now reamed," or cut with a ;ool with curved handle much like the tilt of 8 sword, with keen, semi-cir- ,ular blade inserted so as to cut about ree-eighths of an inch deep. Con- olaints are sometimes made that the ,uts are made diagonally, and too near he backbone, while the fat CD portion 'f the fish is almost " invisible to the naked eye." There is no doubt, how 'ver, that the failure of many Canadian md Nova Scotia fishermen to cream " hcir fish causes 8 loss of from two to our dollars barrel. Mackerel are packed in whole, half, nd quarter barrels, and in "kits 9 folding one-eighth of 8 barrel, or twenty-five pounds. It is said of a ,reat fish dealer, now deceased, that he vas once taunted by another with hav- ng commenced business with hand art. "Well, said he, "I may have lauled hand-cart through the Streets. ut I never was able to make ten kits ut of one barrel of mackerel." This emark supplied the other man with ( ood for reflection. l