The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1896-01-23
Fishermen in Hard Luck.
HAS HAD A MOST DISAS
TROUS SEASON.

Fishermen in Hard Luck.
PEONINCETOWN HAS HAD A MOST DISAS-
TROUS SEASON.
The wear 1895 was the most disastrous
of any previous year to the fishing indus
Try OF PruvucetoWn and in fact, of the
whole of Cape Cod. The kinds of fish
that bring III the best returns, bluetish
ana mackerel, seem to have fUrsaken Cape
Cod bay, W hiie the tall run OF cheap food
fish has been unprecedently large; Sc
large, in fact that they could not be taken
care OF, and prices quickly fell to almost
nothing.
Pollock, whiting and herring were never
before so plentiful The landlocked har-
Dor seemed to prove a regular trap for
them. Millions of pounds We're taken.
About !, 200 men were employed in the
local fishing business the past year, and
fully 95 per cent. make their homes here
The fish weirs that dot the coast from
Wood End bar to Sandwich have expert
enced most disastrous season. All the
first part of the year they were full of
worthless whiting most of the time, and
when they struck off the pollock struck
in, and hung on until cold weather start
ed them southwark. Very small quanti-
ties Of other food fish were taken. Some
Of the weirs hardly paid expenses.
The ProvincetoWn Weir Company, who
was high line last year, with $50 shares
for each man as the result of three traps,
only shared $500 per man for the season
just ended, although there were five traps
in working order: the Bangs Company,
two weirs, stocked $1,000, crew share
S4O3: White Bar Company, three weirs,
1,,.l :. -,
Company, three weirs, stocked 1850,
crew share $3.50; all the others Jared in
like ratio.
The Truro traps fared worse, if any
thing as most OF them were damaged by
early storms and We're taken up before the
fall run of fish began.
picious start at the beginning of the sea l.
son, but, with one or two exceptions,
their luck seemed to end then.
The small fishing and whaling steamers
We're quite fortunate the first Of the sea
son. Nearly score of big tinback whales
were killed and saved. The sailing vessels
of the whaling fleet met with fairly good
luck. Six vessels We're engaged in seek
ing sperm oil and all returned with good
cargoes. Although prices run low, they
may make a little profit
schooner Rising sun landed 80 barrels
of sperm; William A. GroZier 80 barrels
Carrie ID. Knowles, 40 barrels: all the re
suit OF three months cruises. Schooner
Baltic, from a ten months trip, landed
$50 barrels and schooner Ellen \. Swift,
from 70 months voyage, landed l, 100
barrels. Brig ID. A. Small was at the
Canary Islands Nov. 18th with 40 barrels
oil oil and 1 L. pounds of ambergris.
The ileet Of four Grand Bankers all
brought in full fares OF goldfish The size
OF the fleet is in strange contrast to that of
a dozen years ago, when nearly a hundred
sad came home with full tlips. Low prices
and Slow sales give poor encourage ment
for another season.
Drag netting was a success during the
spring for some half dozen of the fleet of
boats.
The ''set'' METERS suffered the most
disappointment prob bly, of any branch of
the fisheries. The thousands of nets that
covered Cape Cod bay from the Race to
Sandwich shore did not secure enough
mackerel to pay for the wear and tea on
the nets. The water seemed to be very
much discolored during the whole fall and
rotted the nets very badly
Even the herring, which have proved a
source of income during the summer as
bait for the big vessels, followed the
usual run of events and spent the past
season somewhere else, but came back in
September in countless numbers. 1t was
a common thing for one sweep of the
seine to secure a thousand barrels, so near
the shore that the net touched bottom.
The most surprising thing of the year
was the immense school of pollock that
filled Provincetown harbor for month
just prior to the ending of the season. 1t
was godsend. Thousands of pounds
were put under salt, and hundreds of
thousands sold fresh. A fleet of 90 boats
engaged in pollock fishing for while,
but the fish were caught in such quanti-
ties as to overstock the market and make
the business Improbable.
The mackerel SEEMING fleet was possibly
the most successful. The catch is as fol
lows: Alice, 422 barrels, stock SIS, 1874,
crew shared $154; Stowell Sherman, 401
barrels, stock SCOOP, crew shared Sl52;
Lizzie Smith, 1878 barrels, stock 1000,
crew shared SIG; Addie Cole, PSI barrels,
stock 50, 3775, crew shared 1914; Frank But
Ter, 100 barrels, stock 81, 226, crew shared
500.
One schooner netted mackerel off the
Magdalen islands, securing 1S5 barrels
and making good shares per man.
The steamer Nickerson stocked $40, 800
for the season. This was made at all
kinds Of fishing. Her crew shared 1851.
The steamer Vigilant stocked 81. 239 and
her crew shared $3.50.
At Welltieet, which formerly fitted so
sail of mackerel schooners, not one start
ed this season.