The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-09-11
cATcHERs AND GAMERS.
The Luck of the Fishermen and Pros
poets of the Packers.


| This has not been very good season
| for fishermen, and there is prospect
that some departments will be dull slater
on. The packing business is not giving
employment to the ordinary number OF
men, the receipts of fish having greatly
| fallen off this year. Last year the mack
erel business promised to revive some
what and was largely in excess of the
| pack of previous years. a period Of great
| depression, but this season it has fallen
off again, and is now pretty well back to
the lowest point previously touched.
d. L. Fernald 6 Co. report that the re-
ceipts here have fallen off greatly. At
this time the catch, so far as Portland is
concerned, is about 5000 barrels short of
that of 1892, while the general New Eng
land catch will fall below that average.
There are at least as many fishermen in
the business as was the case last year,
and the decrease in the catch means the
loss of much time.
Herring fishermen are doing fairly well
now. So far Portland has received about
1900 barrels. somewhat more than at.this
season last year. The entire catch is,
however, not as large as last year, when
Gloucester got the lions part of the
whole. This year Portland is doing bet
ter, and is now 400 barrels ahead of the
catch of last year, with smaller amount
of fish taken as a whole. This is the
most encouraging thing about the pack
ing business here this year. OF course
the season is not over, and there may be
a fairly good mackerel season, but the
present loss of 5000 barrels is not likely
to be made up.
The mackerel are off the coast in plen-
ty, but for some reason do not seem to be
captured A schooner that came in late
Saturday afternoon reported great schools
off the coast, but in shoal water, where
fresh fish taken, made from day to day
by j. w. Trefethen, would indicate that
the supply Of fresh mackerel received
here has been nearly equal to that of a
year ago. The general fresh fish business
has not been encouraging, although there
have been some exceptionally good weeks.
AS rule the men will make less than
they did last year.
The salt fish business promises. as far
as the Portland feet is concerned, to be
very quiet. For some reason there is
little interest felt this year by Portland
shippers and owners in that line of the
fisheries. Last year the Portland feet
was we'll represented, but this year but
two Portland schooners are in that line,
a great falling off when it is considered
how important that branch of the fisher
les was only few years ago. Trefethen
6 Bearce say that the supply has so far
been about enough for the demands made
by the local market and commonly the
calls outside are few at this season of the
year. The Portland feet is in the mack
erel fisheries and in the fresh fish trade.
in. Last week 600 quintal of Nova Scotia
fish was received. The next two months
will be the best time for the salt fish
trade, and the dealers look forward to a
fair supply, but Portland will not be in
it, except to the extent of two schooners,
bad falling off from former years.
There is just one thing that encourages
the packers, and that is the prospect of
very active demand, and a consequent
cleaning off of all their pack. The lob
ster business continues fairly good, and
the demand for CLAIMS is equal to the sup
ply, even with the great Chicago estab-
lishments failure, and the call for CLANS
from that quarter very much restricted
instead of being practically unlimited, as
seemed to be the prospect at the first of
the season.
Other branches of the canning and
packing business will come in for their
part of the general loss, although there
is, as in the case of the fish pack, the con-
ISOLATION of feeling that there will be
cleaning off of the old stock.
ut will be bad year for the farmer"
said well known packer OF canned
goods. The drought has been the prin-
cipal factor in shortness of crops, and
what was left undone by want of rain
was completed by the high winds. This
is especially true in the apple crop, and
from various points the packers have
been unable to obtain any apples for
| packing. The BURBERRY crop is also
short, as, for example, one of our largest
| packers shipped 5000 cases to Dixfield,
one of the best points in Maine for this
| Industry, and only obtained enough
goods to pack 90 cases. The corn out
| put may yield two-thirds of q crop, but
| probably 1t will come nearer to one-half.
The only falling off in orders comes
| from the West. and there is no lack of
! market, or of money with which to take
care of the general pack in all depart
| ments.