, 1886-05-06
FISH FLARES OF LABRADOR.

into the ground, upon which are laid
frames composed IF stats some 6 feet
long, either three corucrcd. with the
angle pointing UpWurd. or long, fiat
nailed upon crOzsbars about 6 inches
apart, the bars being OF ; feet from
zach other. Laths can be used where
conveniently procured, or splits from
shakes or brush laid Hat Upon
these rows Of lattice work the fish
Srs laid to dry They remain spread
while the sun i up. but are gathered
into email piles ibacks up) 1t night
or in rainy weather About two
good warm days viii dry them sutfi-
cisntly. when they are thrown ami
packed into Il large round pile with
the tails IN, the center Of the pile he
ing filed up with small fish. the whole
is then covered with bark, upon
which stones are places to hold It
down. The Dimensions OF sucu a
pile are usually ) TO { feet in diane
ter and t feet high. Often the
ground IS cleared and a frame work
Of stones made for its support, which
becomes a matter Of ornament when
the fish are removed, and serves to
make the ground look nicely and Re
feet the taste Of its owner. Often
very pretty stones are arranged IN
side the outer rocky framework, and
shells play no inconspicuous part
when they can be obtained. The
men, too, take pleasure in saving any
choice shaped colored piece of coral
for this fish garden" as they call it.
The process of weighing now alone
remains to be attended to. All fish
are reckOned as so many ''qUintals.' .
The true quintal Is 4 French Wei ht
signifying 22O pounds; how Its sigui-
tication became diverted to that now
employed it is hard to tell. All along
the coast the term means lie pounds,
or as the merchants claim, = pounds
extra on each similar lot for full
weight, or since some Of the fish may
not be quite dry, III pounds. This
is now the universal quintal weight
in all the New England states and
Canada The fish are usually
weighed in lots of 2 quintals each or
224 pounds. Such a weight is called
a draft. Strange as 1t may seem
long experience has demonstrated
that draft of 224 pounds of fish Just
caught and cleaned, will very nearly
equal a quintet of 112 pounds of dry
fish, the shrinkage being about one
half from wet to dry. The fisherman
know how many quintals their boats
carry; how much each partition holds,
the quantity when loaded up TO her
thWarts, and also to her gunwale;
they know how many small fish Will
make quintal and how many large
ones; how many can be cleaned and
salted in an hour; and strange to say
they can tell as far off as they can
see, whether the men in the boats are
catching fish and about how many
they have, from the set and posi-
ton of the boat. Mr.. Stearns says:
II have seen this told quite accurate
ly time and again when the men were
out on the fishing ground, about
hauling in anchor to return home.
I could hardly perceive the boats
themselves as they danced up and
down on the waves, yet | am far from
being near sighted" The people Of
Labrador have powerful eyesight.
They can distinguish accurately OBJ
jects at an immense distance. and
judge correctly in many instances
where ordinary people would utterly
fail of even seeing the object at all.
Such, then, Is the nature OF the work
that occupies the attention of the peo-
pie along the coasts of Labrador,
l.
during the summer months and also
along the shores Jf Maine and Mass
achusetts wherever shore fishing Is
conducted; and the experience OF
many generations of fisherman which
has enabled them to reach such re
suits, can be emulated by our fisher
men whenever and wherever fish
abound. If this simple method ot
curing Goldfish has been understood
and praetised at Port Discovery dur
ing the late unprecedented run Of
Goldfish in that bay, many tons OF val
liable food fish could have been pre-
pared. 1t should be understood and
laid down as rule, that fish must bC
cleaned and salted as soon as posi-
BILE after being caught and it is this
fact that the shore fisherman can
care and dry their fish so much
sooner than the Grand Bank fisher
men, that gives the shore caught and
cured fish the preference IN the mar
kets and among epicures.
One word here about cod gill nets
which are used with such great sue
cess by Gloucester fishermen. II
has been shown by experience that
larger fish are caught by The nets
than are taken by lines. Capt. S. J
Martin, in letter to Professor Baird
dated Gloucester, Mass, Oct. 26, 1881
says that the schooner Dixie, with
tWenty-four nets, landed in seven
days 135,000 pounds of pollock and
5000 pounds Of large cod, her nets
are 50 fathoms long and 2 fathoms
deep.
During the same time the schooner
Hictor with sixteen nets took 26,O0C
pounds or pollokc and 1,000 pounds
of cod.
The amount of fish caught IN gil
nets and at Gloucester III one weeI
ending November ,, 1884 was 9I5.00t
pounds of pollock and $1,000 pounds
of large cod. During the month OF
November, 1854, there were landed il
Gloucester $4,000 poun : of cod and
1,O57,000 pounds of pollock. Il
Rockport we're landed 293, GOO pound:
OF cod and 105,000 pounds OF pollock
and at Lynn were landed 26S,OOl
pounds of cod and $4,000 pounds OF
pollock. All these ouanfitieS nj fish
were caught in gill nets. The hand
line fisherman are very Jealous of the
success Of the gill netters and at
tempt to destroy the nets. It makes
them sick 10 think that while they
are hunting tor bait and wasting
much time in batting hooks and set
ting lines, the SIll netters who use &c
bait are reaping such beautiful har-
vest. Ihave fifty fathom cod gill
net belonging to the L. S Fish Cons
mission, ali rugged ready for use but
thus far I have failed TO find a siDsls