The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1885-06-11
Menhaden Fisheries.
PROSPECTS OF PROFITABLE SEASON IN FISH
OILS. DECLINE OF THE BUSINESS AT BOOTH

i,,I ~, M, - nt ,r,, ,i-S,SESS At ponTH
~ Va -''A =
frooaoiy more menhaden were destroyeo
every day last year by sharks than all the men
hadap fishermen in the limited States could
~
" H' 'i0'N
anu oHtahl, WHOSE eullor nao arSueu thaC tue
fish were being killed off on the Atlantic coast
bv overti.binp with steamers AT Mystic a few
,,ilas e+,, e ,.o ,h fh oil i,,,s.rr "a
n''e' e"et" ia u heio' 'ii0 non oi' ihuo'''! VI
the country Is practically centered to-day. The
foremost men in the industry will agree with
NJ ,,h,,.a, u;
W. N'"i on' vi II hot q"'Ve 'iuoIs'ha lis eha'
theory, VIII at least deny the editorial argu-
ment of The Forest and Stream. The figures
are with Them The official reDort of the Men
haden association show that the catch of 1882
on the Atlantic coast was BAG 900 900. of 1888
81 900 900 and of last wear SS 600 900 or near
| " 5000 600 barrels in mart This increase is
| due to extending the season. bv beginning in
| The early sprjpo down the coast as far as Ches-
| apeak Bay when the fish first set shoreyard and
| working into the schools as they keep along the
coast until the rush of the business in summer.
| when the surface of Long Island Sound of Mar
ragapsett Bay and the deeper waters outside is
| literally carpeted with schools of these sil-
yorv fish Ii is the harvest time of thousands
Of worthy mariners whose homes are on the
shores of these waters They earn livelihood
from this wealth of ii n tIuno in their very faces
| and L,noh at the theories ~ extinrtion Of the
| sul,pIy, They have the hard, cold facts before
| them that fish rtay be scarce one year but it
| has never failed that a wear of abundance has
| followed.
| ,.,,, ....- ...
M'eiiC htSf DAYS
! Mystic is alive with the industry today. The
us ,,n" + ,'tL ni III t"i ~ rev. u"i noo
|
! fl>h, winch We're brought into New London.
/ his was the impetus, and within Il few hours
several fast steamers aroused from their leth-
afgN and pushed out into blue water. The An
| ME Gallup Is already back with 100000, and it
| i TO be presumed that the Others have done
| equally well. There may I've "a temporary gut
- tie tiaIhel' ,ul el'nef one OF lh9 m lour Siea.
! Island line can make short wnrt Of rarSo
| surh AS the Annie Gallnn-s II is to he nre
| sumed the Narraeansett hay boats too. are
| hard at work. Will they s,yeeu every school
| out of axistencep Imnossible ssv the fisher
| men, Las, summer a veteran in The bu>iness
| estimated thar an .nea of 1000 suuaro miles Of
| water from No Mans Land westward TO Fire
| island and in Narrauansett bay and Long island
] sound were covered with immense schools
crowding one another,
What The effect of this early arrival of tbe tjsh
| may be upon the market for fish oil remains TO
| he determined. Some fishermen are compelled
| Il, rush their huIdno. ,Iuo,, the market Al once
| a ntlt- he llpS al l.
| anIic. for instance. The oreat catch of 1884
| knocked prices down 10 hard nan. The Juces
| had means and held their oil And they had
| made enormous haul, of fish. too. Their sfeam-
| er Arizona WAS 'bigh line" last wear with a re-
| cord of 81 0o0 n0O fsh III go 0o0 'h.rr.l. This
| spring the price had advanced cents ppr gal
| lon and they reaptd a small fortune hy their
| foresight aided hy their strength of capitaI
| ,,, ..,.,,,,.,r,,.,..
~, ROY o'lf-N i'i9 ~ fNfi'NiN'
| me ways OF the menhaden are past compre-
! hen>lon. ANA this fact has wrought the imam
| clal rum OF more than one investor. 1t does
| not pay, nor i 1t practicable TO transport
eaten great distance. The factories must be
near the flsh, and # the fish won't come to the
factories, the latter may as well be abandoned.
ot late years they have not chosen to go, TO any
| Profitable extent. very far 10 the eastward of
| Narragansett bay. The sWarming waters of
| ls't around outtylunk, Marha's Vineyard and
all through that section have since been practi-
| caily deserted. In 1852 the fishermen found no
| schools east of Montauk point even The
| palmy days Of the industry eastward of Cape
| Cod appear to be ended. Why. no man knows.
Fishermen who have had lifetime experience
| with these fish claim that for years the water
| has been too cold. Nothing short of an early
| and a warm season will tempt these fish to dou-
bic the cape and head up the coast.
Be the reason what it may, the fish which
| once teemed in the waters OF Maine are there
! no more. The costly factories are falling TO
rum, the steamers have been sold to owners in
| the Long Island section, and a profitable busi-
ness in many Maine seaports has gone to the
| winds. Boothbay has suffered most of all
During "A recent visit there the writer heard the
story of the bubble and its bursting:
Away back IN The Cos the waters We're full
OF porgies. as they are called up here, and about
the closing year Of the war Edward L. DeBiois
came up from Rhode Island and built a fish oil
| factory at Bristol. In six weeks, with 30 men
atioat and ashore, and with the old fashioned
| gear of SailboatS and purse nets. his profits
We're Sll 900. That started the boom. The fol-
was great catch and biz profits In 1867, a