The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1892-11-03
Facts about the Fisheries.

town, MASS, Tor years TOOK place the
night of Oct. 24th. Every net in Cape
Cod bay made hauls, and it is estimated
that Is, 200 large and medium fish We're
taken. Many nets sank with the weight
of the fish. Large quantities are being
sailed, one man taking $4,000 fish and
others in proportion.
The Boothbay Harbor cold storage plant
has been completed and is ready for bust
ness. 1t will freeze a cargo Of fish as
solid as a rock in twenty-four hours
The plant consists of two distinct systems
of freezers. Each can be run independent
Of the other, OF both together. The com
bined plant is the largest and most com
plete for the business on the Atlantic
coast, if not in the country. Over two
hundred barrels are now in storage, and
fish are coming every morning in about
the right quantity. The Register says it
is the greatest enterprise for the small
fishermen ever started in that locality.
WHERE DO MACKEREL 60? Where
mackerel 60 for the winter is one of the
fish mysteries When the first snow flies
in the Bay Of Fundy, mackerel disappear.
They are abundant in the Gulf of st.
Lawrence and off Newfoundland until that
time, plump and juicy and very tootlsome,
the result of having fed we'll on their mi
grafton northward. The next seen Of them
is in March, off Cape Hatteras. Al their
plumpness is then gone, as if they had
eaten nothing all winter. There is scaly
growth over their eyes, which nearly blinds
them. Nobody whose palate has been
taught what good macllcrel are cares to
eat such fish. Many old fishermen think
the flesh tastes of mud in the spring.
One theory in regard to this is that the
mackercl go into the mud in Writer and
remain there, and that this has TIE effect
of producing a cataract growth or scale.
for the protection of the eye, and of i'm
parting an earthly taste to the flesh Mack
erel have been speared in the Bay Of Fun
dy by men, who cut through the ice to look
for fish. Occasionally a mackerel has been
found in mud, but cases Of this kind are
so rare that they fail to establish any rule
in regard to the habits of fish.
The only certainty is that mackerel dis
appear from all waters visited by fishing
vessels from late in the fall until early in
the spring. The fish naturally loves the
shore and is to be found close to land in
the regular season. Since fishing vessels
cover this gound all the year round, it is
safe to suppose that if mackerei We're there
they would be caught at times out Of sea
son. If the fish 60 into deep water in the
winter and move seward, they put aside
entirely the habits that have been observ-
Ell III regard to them, and in the winter
time acquire traits to which they seem to
be lnnately averSe in the warm weather
months.
Mackerel do not like cold water, and it
is not believed that they remain in the
northern bays through the winter There
is certainly no explanation, if it be assum-
ed that they make their winter homes off
Newfoundland, for their appearance in
latitude much further south in the spring.
Canadian fishermen have several times
tried to make trouble over macllerel catch
es, claiming that mackerel remain in the
northern waters as their natural habitat
and that the mackerel coming up from
llatteras are not at all the same fish found
in the Bay of Fundy. This theory has
not been accepted, however, by American
fishermen, and the claims of the Canadi-
ans do not seem plausible enough to have
Justified any action by the authorities Of
the Dominion.
The season now closing has been the
most successful of that Of any year since
lSS6. The aggregate catch for the season
which began in June, will be about 30
900 barrels for Gloucester vessels alone.
barrels may have been taken BY fishing
vessels from other ports. This catch will
be nearly double that of last year and
about six times that of 1890. Boats will
continue to 90 for mackcrel for several
weeks, but the season is practically over.
Reports from fishing vessels now in are
that the lnackerel are evidently getting
ready for winter quarters. Since the last
appearance OF this fish is in the Bay of
St Lawrence, all the mackerel vessels
that are still out are looking for catches
there.
This year $ catch has been remarkably
good for quality as well as quantity of
fish. Market mackerel are divided into
four sizes-blinks. OF fish a year old, and
weighing from one to one ANA il half
pounds: thinkers. OF two year-old fish: No.
,. OF three year uldS, and full grown fish
of -four years old or over. Very large and
plump fish are put up in size called
extras. According to quality, they are
salable i'll the market 1T from s. to SD
per barrel, averaging, probably, about SO.
In years OF great scarcity they have
brought as high us SIS per barrel. but the
extra price has never compensated for
small catches.
Mackerel fishing is one Of the most prof
ltdDlt VI lnt fisherman ) PURSUITS. lie
trips are not usually long. and the market
is always ready one. Vessels have made
good trips i'll us short a time us a week.
and the average mackerel trip does not
last more than a fortnight. y good nip
means 4 catch OF 100 barrels OF mackerel
on more, running as high as 300 Allow
ing one-half to the owner and ) per cent
OF the total to the skipper, there often re-
mains from $500 to 81 900 to lie divided
among vessel S crew. The crews consist
OF from 10 to ~ men, according to the
size OF the vessel. All the fishermen who
have been out for mackerel this year have
brought i'll good fares, and there is more
money among the sailors than there has
been for Il long time. The tradesmen
who carry on a credit business with the
families of fishermen are now closing llp
their accounts, and many a Gloucester
home will be provided this fall with extra
comforts.
a few years ago there seemed to be
danger That mackerel We're running out.
Congress passed a law forbidding fishing
for them until June for five years. That
limit has now expired, and no doubt the
Gloucester fleet, encouraged by this sea-
son great catch, will be seen off HatteraS
1. 4