The Portland daily press., 1893-02-14
THE MAcKERELsFlsHERY.
its Claims VIII Be Presented at Augusta
Today by Portland Dealers.


A delegation comprising most OF. the
prominent fish dealers i'll Portland will
go to Augusta today to attend the hear
ing before the committee on sea shore
fisheries. in relation to petition before
said committee to abolish the use of
purse or drag seines within three miles
of the shore.
One OF the dealers prominently identi-
fed with the mackerel fishing business
said yesterday to the PRESS:
"The facts which we shall present
should be taken into careful considera-
ton by every one who does not want to
see this very important industry practi-
cally ruined. In the first place, the pc
tition we shall take is signed either by
people residing some distance from the
sea shore (who have been misled into be-
lieving the cause for the high price of
mackerel which has prevailed for the
past few years is due to their having been
destroyed by the use of the purse seine),
or people interested in weir fishing which
has been carried on very proftably for
several seasons past.
'sNow, as a matter of fact, the weirs do
far more damage to the fish than the
seines do, for this reason: A vessel en-
gagged in seining mackerel carries crew
of from 16 to IS men. When fortunate
enough to secure haul it is a rare thing
for them to secure over one hundred bar
rels at one set, and in that case the crew
have ample time to d ess their fish prop
erly, soak them well and put them under
salt long before they show any signs of
growing soft from exposure to the air.
The consequence is the fish are brought
to market in good condition, meet with a
ready sale and are highly satisfactory to
the consumer.
ssNow, how is it with the weirs? They
are nothing more or less than pitfalls for
the mackerel as they follow along the
shore to fall into. and then what becomes
of them? A number of instances have
been known within the past few seasons
where weir would in a single night Sc
cure several hundred barrels of mack
erel. Then the destruction would COM
mence. In the first place the fish would
be very poorly dressed and cured, for as
the business would not afford a compe-
tent force of men, experienced in the
business, to be on hand all the time, men
and boys, green at the business, would
be called into service to rush them
through and in some manner prepare as
many as possible for market What
could not be saved would then be either
taken short distance from shore and
dumped overheard, or spread on land for
dressing. Now, the difference between
fishing with the ordinary purse seines
and by the method just described must
be apparent, and it seems unjust that
vessel owners and others interested in the
business should be compelled to submit
to the dictates of the petitioners in this
matter.
I'm the state of Maine alone, some fifty
vessels were engaged the past season in
the mackerel fishery, employing about
and gear would be not far from 5000, 1000.
The estimated value of the catch for 1892
and landed in Maine ports is about
$250,000. Of the 700 men employed at
least three-fourths are citizens of the
state. Now, is it just that business of
this magnitude should be made to suffer
and to certain extent perish simply to
crafty one class who cling to the erro-
neous idea that seining destroys maokerel
and another class who seek to build up a
better field for their particular kind of
fishing to the detriment of all others?
One thing is certain if this petition is
granted. The markets of the United
States will be supplied by the British
Provinces, Norway and Ireland at no
distant day."