The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1905-02-16
New England Fisheries.
THE TRUE CAUSE OF THEIR FAILURE

THE TRUE CAUSE CT THEIR FAILURE
Many are the reasons advanced for
the failure of these fisheries, but the
true cause is Man. For three hundred
years, in and out of spawning season,
he has ruthlessly preyed on the suppos-
eddy inexaustible supply with never a
thought of the morrow. With nets,
pounds, weirs and other instruments of
destruction, not satisfied with catching
the fish themselves when about to
spawn, he even destroyed the spawn
itself-what little found its way to the
breeding ground.
Time was when mackerel were caught
with the Zig" (hook and line) or with
''drags''-small nets dragged behind
schooners. These two methods were
always effective. Fish remained plenti-
full, the fisherman made enough money
to provide himself with even the lux
uries of life, and the price Of mackerel
remained within the means of the poor
est laborer. Then the country grew,
facilities for shipping fresh fish to
greater distances improved steadily,
the fisherman became too atfluent, and
lay awake nights devising means how
to triple his income. Thousands OF fish
lifted out of a school became an alb
surd proposition in his eyes. Entire
schools he wanted, two hundred thous-
and or more at time, if possible never
mind whether they had or had not
spawned. Both fixed and portable
nets and traps he invented.
Chief among the apparatus used for
catching fish while in fixed position
n dc a,2 WUirc Tho tran
consists of an oblong Enclosure of net
ting on three sides and at the bottom,
anchored securely by the side of a chan
mel. Into this the fish enter, and, the
bottom of the net being lifted to the sur
face at the open end, the fish are
penned in and driven into lateral in
closure where they are kept until need
ed.
The pounds and weirs are far more de-
structive. These are adapted not only
for taking but, many Of them, for re-
tanning the fish until convenient to re-
move them. They are of various con-
struction, depending upon various con-
ditions-the nature of the water, the
tides, the nature of the shore, the kind
of fish to be taken. The most common
form consists of a fence netting extend
ing fifty or one hundred fathOms into
the sea, at right angles to the shore line.
The outer end of this straight fence, or
wall, is carried into heartshaped In
closure of netting, the apex OF the heart
connecting with a circular "bowl' OF
netting, the bottom of which lies upon
the ground at depth of twenty or thirty
feet. In it's course along the coast q
school strikes one of these fences, fol-
lows it seward, hoping to swim around
it and continues along the Header"
until it reaches the end which is the
entrance to the heart. Here the school
swims around and around for a time,
the only avenue of escape seeming to
be through the apex into the bowl,
wherein they circle and circle, seeking
an outlet.
The welrs differ from these pounds
chiefly in being constructed in part or
in whole of brushwork and narrow
boards, with OF without netting; and
they are often so arranged that at low
tide sand bar cuts off the escape Of
the fish, leaving them i'll basin inside.
But of all the deadly traps of whole
sale slaughter perhaps none can equal
that portable continuance, now carried
by every fishing schooner, the purse
seine. This seine is d net half a mile
long and thirty feet deep provided with
heavy IRON rings along the lower edge
to sink it perpendicularly. A rope pass
ing loosely through the rings enables
the net to be drawn Shut. Entire
schools Of hundreds of thousands of
fish were trapped in this continuance and
Scooped to the decks of The schooners.
SO hugely successful We're these nets
from the very first, that each vessel
was provided with one, and millions
upon millions of fish-Gn their way
10 the spawning ground where each
female would lay from ten thousand to
ninety thousand tiny eggs-Were taken.
Ollen single haul of these nets was
50 successful that more mackerel were
taken than could be carried away. Then
the largest and best specimens were
selected and the smaller ones, dead or
dying, were thrown back into the sea.
Schooner after schooner, with decks
and holds crammed full of mackerel,
staggered into port only to find the
market glutted by earlier competitors.
SO abundant We're mackerel that even
in a market so strong as New York's,
the fish were sold al fifty cents a hun
dred and, frequently, street hucksters
could fill their wagons for twenty-five
cents load. In fact, times there were
when it was impossible to give the fish
away, and the vessels had to put out of
the harbor and dump their loads out at
sea. In 1885, it is estimated, from thirty
thousand to forty thousand barrels of
mackerel were thus caught and, spoiled,
were thrown into the ocean to get rid
of them
And, worse, while this destruction
was going on from the time the schools
reached Hatteras to the time they were
again bound for their unknown quar-
tiers in deep water, at NeWburyport
criminal, wasteful war was waged
against these splendid fish. Here,
where the coast is irregular and where
there is a difference of twenty or more
feet between high and low tides, fisher
men-farmers caught mackerel by the
wagon-load to spread on their acres in
place of manure, or else to feed them
to their pigs. The fishes would enter a
cove to lay their eggs; when ready to
retreat they would find net stretched
across the entrance of the retreat, and
a tide falling fast, until at last entire
schools were left high and dry. Then
the farmers would drive in with teams, !
and with shovels and pitchforks load
their wagons and spread the mackerel
TO fertiliZe the SOIL
The most potent of all the reasons