The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1879-11-12
THE EEACKEREL FISHERY.
Eow Mackerel are Caught and Prepared for
the Market---Mackerel Catchers and Their
Wages.


What the cod is abroad, macker-
ell is in the country for which it is
fshed-an universally popular
dish. 1t is always in season salt
cd or fresh, macherel occupies the
place on the American breakfast
table that con does in the tropics.
The mackeral season begins in
March and endures until Novem-
Der, steadily increasing all the
time. The first cargoes landed
are invariably of poor quality, al
though of good size; but as the
season advances the fish improve.
The quality suitable for packing
comes in about the middle ofJuly.
The early mackerel are fshed
for as far South as Cape Henry,
and from thirty to fifty miles off
shore. From May to July they
are found along the coast from
Cape May to Gay Head. Thence
they progress steadily northward
until from August to November
the Canadian fishery assumes lis
hugest proportions.
Mackerel, like cod, are baited
with mixture of salted CLANS and
small fish, ground fine. This bait
is thrown overheard, and sinking
to the depth at which the fish lie,
lures them to swapping indiscrIm-
inately at bait and bare hooks.
So ravenously do the fish bite,
that a single fisherman often fills
a barrel in less than half an hour.
Each fisherman uses two lines at
once.
In 1873 the seine was first
brought into use in the mackerel
| capture, and the line fishery,
as a speciality, is now rapidly
dying out. The seines are vast
nets, IT'S fathoms long and "a
fathoms deep in the middle, grad
ually diminishing to half that size
at the ends. The upper edge is
hoated by buoys. Along the
lower edge a purse line is rove
through iron rings, which also
serve to sink the net. The seine
is cast from large barge, the
ground having been previously
baited as for line fishing.
| Two boats accompany the seine
barge, and as the net is cast they
carry the purse and cork lines to
the right and left until the ex'
treme limit of the long ropes is
reached. Then a slight sweep is
made, and the lines gradually
drawn until the net is, in fishing
parlance, "pursed up" with the
| fish inclosed in it's mesbes. The
schooner now runs down to the
scene of the cast, and the fish are
dipped aboard.
The process of seiniDg in good
weather is perfectly easy, but high
winds and uneasy seas render it
i'm practicable, and then the time
is eked out with line fishing.
SEEMING is often subject to failure,
too; the fish frequently diving un-
der the net, or taking fright and
backing out before they are en-
closed. From 200 to 300 barrels
Of fish are as many as can be we'll
handled in a single cast, and the
fishermen, therefore, rarely attack
| the largest shoals.
Mackerel 60 in large shoals, but
scatter sometimes over miles OF
ocean. In consequence OF this the
mackerel schooners usually sail
| in fleets, batting large area, and
prosecuting their labors with mil
itary precision. Long practice
lends the various vessels of feet
a unity Of action as perfect as il
their movements were directed
by a commodore. As all are Of
about the same size and rugged
alike, the effect of such CONNER
cial navy can be imagined as 8
picturesque one.
The preparation Of mackerel fol
market, which takes place after
|
every days fishing, is in some re
spects very similar to that of the
cod. They are dressed by split
ting them down the back, taking
out the "gibs" or entrails, and let
ting the blood soak out of them
by immersion in clear salt water
for several hours. Then they are
+oI,on ont loi1 O. n rlv in harralS 9nC