News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1885-06-11
A BUSY SEASON,
The Cape Cod Herring Fisheries, and tho
Excitement of the Day.

1t is in May that the people of Cape
God are more alive than at any other
time of the year, as their chief industry.
the herring fishery, can only be prose-
cuted during that month.
After being away out from land In the
deepest water all winter, keeping down
from the surface chilled with snow and
ice, the herring, with the return of
spring and the warmer tides setting in
against the shores, comes up against the
land in immense shoals to spawn, The
small creeks and rivulets of Cape Cod,
which lead up to lakes and sheltered
basins, are favorite resorts of the her
ring at this season, and they ascend
these streams in such numbers that the
tide rises several inches, and the fish
can be taken out by the hand. The fish
by a material instinct go on up the
streams until they find a sunny spot
where there is but little ebb and flow.
generally preferring sandy bottom which
is warmed for hours daily by the sun.
Here they lay their spawn and then seek
the ocean again.
In most of these Cape God streams
there is a small natural fall of water.
and where there is none such man has
ingeniously constructed one. The fish
going up the stream find their way
stopped by this and attempt to Jump it
by bending their bodies almost double
and suddenly letting go like wound-up
watch spring, after the manner of the
salmon. Few are able to jump the falls.
however, and the others fall back to
where they started. Around the fall is
weir, which is zigzag channel of wood
through which mild current few
inches deep flows. The fish find no diff
fculty in going up through this, as its
crooked course breaks the force of the
water and they find resting places in the
eddies around the curves. 1t is here that
the Cape God folks take the fish.
Before the fishing begins the privilege
is sold by auction in each town to the
highest bidder, the proceeds going to
the town treasury. Privileges have sold
as high as 81, 700, but the average price
now paid is about $500 to 81 900. All
the laws that regulate the fishing are
made by the town authorities or select
men.
A curious custom that has come down
from time immemorial is the free gift by
the town of barrel of herrings to each
widow within its bailiwick, and the
widows are always the first to be served.
A line is formed on the principal that
the first conner is the first to be servad;
but this does not include the widows,
who have preference over all others, no
matter how late they arrive.
After widow has received her barrel
of behring's it has next to be cured or
sailed. This work is usually performed
on the Cape by the village blacksmith,
who takes every second dozen for his
labor. The behring's are hung up on
sticks in the barn for the rest of the
year, dozen to stick. In nine out of
every ten of the barns of the Cape may
be seen dozens and dozens Of these
sticks hanging by the wall, and as time
advances it may be noticed that their
number is gradually decreasing, as the
fish are taken off for home consumption.
The herring sticks have a crotch at the
end, and the village boys make pocket
money by searching out and cutting
these sticks in the woods and selling
them for small sums when the herring
season returns.