The Opelousas courier., 1883-10-06
A GREAT FISH MARKET.
Ahe Eash Business as Carried On i'm the
Fulton MARI Il. New York-The
EiShEiaG Smacks.

Ahe Eash Business as Carried On i'm the
Fulton MarF39t, New York-The
Fishing Smacks.
There is always a crowd of interest
ed spectators about Fulton fish mar
ket' which supplies in great part the
enormous demand made by that part
OF the Union, east Of the Mississippi,
and west of the Hudson river, for fish.
The smack fleet furnishes much of the
material which lines the fish stands of
the market every week day morning
from 4 o'clock till nine. Of these fish
the cod is the principle one, and is
caught all the year round. But the
smack-men pursue all other local spe-
cies of the finny tribe in their season.
The fleet of smacks which comes to
the New York markets, like the Jersey
produce boats, from various ports.
There is probably no class of men
afoat who undergo greater perils and
suffer more h~ardships in their vocation
than smack fishermen, and yet a hap
pier, jollier set of men is seldom found.
With the majority Of them the season
opens in February or March, and cod
fish and haddock from Nantucket
shoals, the Block Island grounds,
around Montauk point, and off Sandy
Hook, are brought into the Fulton
slip by the thousand. This is the dive
fish season. AS warm weather ap-
proaches and it is impossible to keep
the 6sh in the water, some of the YES
sells go into the transportation of lob
sters from eastern ports, and some go
to the south and follow the bluefish up
the coast, or engage in the eastern
pound fisheries; but by far the largest
number continue codfshing in the deep
water off Nantucket and Block Island,
dressing their catches and storing them
in ice.
At a rough estimate there are per-
haps 800 fishing vessels that have occa-
sion to go to Fulton many times during
a twelvemonth. This does not include
transient craft. These vessels are
manned on an average by six men.
The average wages paid to the COM
mon hands of the Fulton market cod
smacks, are from $25 to 80 per month.
An average load of fish is 1000. If a
sharesman makes $500 out of a sea-
sons fishing, he is considered to have
done remarkably well. Some of them
do not clear $500 in a whole year.
A fishing smack is a vessel of deep
draught of water as compared with
her size. In her centre is a "welr'
for the carrying Of live fish. It is this
well that gives the vessel a claim to
the name of a smack, for, although a
smack may be a schooner or a sloop,
vet a schooner or a sloop is not a
smack unless she has a well. The
well is simply a water-tight box, occu-
plying perhaps one-sixth of the vessefs
space, and made Of heavy timber. This
bog which is framed to the bottom OF
the craft extends across her amidships,
is about fourteen feet long, and four
or five feet between joints. From the
top of this box a well curb of planking,
calked. leads to the deck of the vessel.
This curb is usually about three feet
by six. The fish are thrown into the
well through it, and are scooped out
of it into the huge box a r in Fulton
market slip.
A smack is made of great draugh'
in proportion to her size, in order te
give her keel a good hold on smooth
water. in a rough sea, and to sink the
well below the water line of the YES
sci. Good sized holes are boree
through the bottom of the ship int
the well in sufficient number to insure
a nerfect circulation of water through
: that compartment and thus preserve
the lives of the vessels cargo, for II
the give fishing" season 5000 and il
very cold weather, even 5000 goot
sized cod are brought to market IN tn
well. being at times SO crowded that !
, a long pole be showed down through
the curb to the bottom Of the well, tn
mass of fish will keep it in an uprlgh
position. A well. however is Otter
over crowded, particularlyin the earl!
fall. when the water has not YET az
tanned a low temperature. Dozens Q
, smacks bound to Fulton market iron
Block Island or Nantucket shoals
have found their fish dying ny tn
hundreds as the vessel approaches
New York through the warm water
Of Long Island Sound. The onl
course left is to crowd on sail, clea
the well as closely as possible OF tn
J dead and dying, and invoke aid OF tn
nearest tugboat. Frequently, eve
with all these precautions, the mai
norton Of the cargo is transferred t
! more spacious quarters. only t
die in a few hours from distempel