Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1894-02-15
HARVEST OF THE EPTS
Magnitude o Of tahe. 4 Fisheries on tho
Coast OF the Atlantic 10 W '''e


~ many Years. says the No,,, -
tribune, the condition Of on. Nv wv. oriS
oeeP-sea fisheries has been s,, 10 eionat
grave discussion by those ~ OF
iilos' interested in fish from s.; are
economical 1,. and commercial ,,o;,1. .lhc
r,on me general public has 20 20 oi
"a ny taken any particular, ~ ~
es' III the subject, as it is TOO ,ll'ef-
20 ~ eAcl.e popular interest. vet ,, .o.e
olliHehS can recall the TIM
li'''y years ago, when ~, nv
n''' , was three times as nlo,.4:s' '',
aant, .'s , Eclneap as they have bean -, -
oo,.d;ts: Inc question of the cr;,,n1oa
o ott OF our mackerel and
o'iier oecp-sea fisheries is far f,.o,, NV
.sniote subject to fish dealers .n oai "a a
1ne hardy fishermen who brave ~. w
1; ~nhtiS OF the deep in order to cav
nv: Tor the support of their fano1
t ana 1T IS subject that should in
,cie,t. at least to some extent e,,a1l.
royal citizen of the T.;ty
states The American fisheries "'.eu
among among the leading industries of 49,
ohlted States. The product is a 80
p.o loou, oellclous and nourishing. and
~ " ordinary and proper conditions
Oh Nlnos OF deep-sea fish should ha
spio do price that would easilv n1ace
.''ei'l "lthln the reach of all classes
great many men are employed in
catching and handling fish. mora -
number than find emnlovmen+ -
many other leading Industries and
they are of a class that with difticnIt,
ADAPT themselves to other vocat;ons.
ana Tor these reasons alone. if for M
o'i'erS our fisheries are prominent ne
national industry, W.
Eugene q. blackboard, speaking on
the present condition of the fisheries
SAID: For number of wears deem
sea hSherles have been in an ex
.remeIy uncertain condition as regards
.heif Iuture The catch of mackerel
.ias varied from year to year, chang
ing from an average catch to one that
was pltltully small and then again.
DIS IN 1881, jumping up to the enormous
catch OF 1000 barrels. There appears
no reason why mackerel should not be
as plenty along our Atlantic coast as
anywhere else in the world. and
at one time, not very far distant.
they probably were. But it is diff
terent now. The annual catches
have decreased; fishermen have been
forced into other branches of their
calling, or out OF the fishing entirely.
and there are very many towns along
our eastern coast, especially in Maine
that have so seriously felt the effect
of the condition of affairs as to have
been practically depopulated. More
than this, the United States has of late
years been forced to import mackerel
extensively from foreign countries,
and thousands of good American dol
lars have been sent to Canada, to Nor
way and to Ireland in purchase of a
fish that should be as plentiful along
our coast as anywhere in the world.
The causes to which this remark
able decrease of macllerel is a ttrib
are many and varied, according to the
different views taken of the subject
Some attribute it to the purse net
so.ne to the traps and pounds, and
others argue that the fish have
for time at least taken another
course and resorted to other waters.
AS far as have been able to observe,
the subject of the plenty and scarcity
of ma cllerel in our waters is unaccount-
able. By referring to the Stats
ties of the national mackerel catch,
found that there have been both
usual scarcity, and for these remark
able variances no satisfactory reason
can be ascribed.
In January. 1887, a national law
was passed prohibiting the catching of
mackcrel in United States waters be-
tween Jan. and June /. Up to
this time mackerel had been caught as
early as April, while they were
passing along the coast. This
law was considered by many
H., be a wise piece of legislation,
but what was the result? The fish be-
gan to move northward and eastward
early in the spring as usual, and
when the open season began they
were so far to the eastward that all
but the tail end of the procession, so
to speak. were in Canadian waters and
ont of the reach of American fisher
men. The Canadian fishermen were
not slow in taking advantage OF
the situation. and the result was
that quantities of what were in sense
American macl1erel were expressed
tn New York and other cities from
Canadian ports, and were retalled at
double and ire BILE the price consumers
.uld have bought them had they been
c.uoht by American fishermen. During
the five years of oppression as many
termed the period during which the
law was in force, mackerel was ex-
tremelv scarce in our waters. Inc
law expired by limitation last jan
narv and the result of it's having be
come a dead letter is interesting. ny
referring to the annual reports OF she
entire national catch OF NO. mackerel'
- - fonnd that for four years, as an
example, the catch was as follows;
- 200, 900 barrels
1875 On o01 bn rraIc
iSsI. '.....' 10000 barrels
$50 far up to date this year the tota,
,+a,, has been only 10000 barrels, and
the season is now practically over, .a 1.
;s seen that during the one year
Is So as some term the period
since the law became obsolete the
r,,,.l,arel catch has not even APP
pros,ilnatcd what il might reason ta n