Ellsworth American., 1910-11-16
THE HERRING INDUSTRY.


] THE HERRING INDUSTRY.
Facts and Suggestions by Oliver
Bowsey, Of swans Island.
Oliver Bowlcy, of swans Island, mem-
Der Of the last Legislature from the class
towns Of Mount Desert, Southwest Harbor,
fremont, Cranberry Isles and Swans is-
land, and . member Of the committee on
sea and shore fisheries, has sent an open
letter to the pipers Of the State, in which
he makes some pertinent suggestions In
regard to the herring asheries. He
writes:
The value Of the catch OF ash - taken from
the water. before any labor value has been
added to the same, was given In the last re-
port Of the sea and shore fisheries department
for this State ~ being e2s5o.ooo for the year
1893. Add to this sum, labor expended.
capital invested in boats, gear. seines. weirs,
wharves. buildings. coid-storAge plants and
sardine factories, and the approximate value
Of the fishing industry per year 10 this State
would be slo.oooooo.
Probably the largest single item in this
amount would be the value Of the herring In
dustry in all it's branches. which would in
ciude fsh used for bait by the lobster and
deep-sea fishermen. either fresh or frozen
and thoee used by the sardiue factories for
canning purposes. l believe that one-thisd
| Of the total value Of the fisheries would be
represented by this industry.
| Available figures would indicate even more,
but owing TO . law In this state whereby
statistics cannot he taken by the department
| Of sea and shore fisheries to the output Of
| the sardine ind nstry. figures in reference TO
| this can only be obtained from the individ-
uai statements Of parties directly interested.
1 From all figures available. however. the her
ring industry would directly involve more
rather than less than one-third Of the entire
value. and indirectly furnishes . large pro-
portion Of the bait which is used by ground
| and lobster fishermen.
The herring is the wheat Of the sea. Fish
ermen rely almost entirely upon these hsh
| fer bait A few CLAIMS. founders and other
hsh are used for this purpose. but practically
none In comparison to the herring.
It seems 10 me that the matter of so-cslied
| protection TO the herring fisheries has al
| ways been approached in the wrong way.
The laws which have been passed have al
ways been for the supposed benefit Of a par
| ticular locsiity or for the benefit Of weirmen
or seiners. These laws have oftentimes been
loosely drawn, 50 that they did mot even serve
| the particular purpose for which they were
intended. Further than this. the result has
been that neither weirman, seiner nor fisher
man has taken any Of large body Of Hsh
which might have been taken had there been
. suitable general law.
All interested insthe industry know that
| there Is an arbitrary division on the coast
line OF this State, viz, White Head. to the
westward OF which 1t Ia lawful 60 seine within
| loo feet Of . weir; to the eastward Of which
| the limit is one-half nautical mile, and not
then II from mainland to mainland" the dis
| tance iS less than three nautical miles.
| This division line was arbitrarily nxed by
statute; and ask. for what purpose and BY
whoms Was II done in the interest Of the
fisheries. or In the interest Of individuaiss IL
there any sense or nonsense In such . divi-
sions Are the habits Of the herring any diff
ferent either one or the other side Of White
\ Heads
| Further, there is general conflict In many
cases between the general and the special
laws; also In reference to seining. between
the laws applicable to herring and TO smeits,
ale~ives or other hsh, so that ii may be law
full TO seine one or the other, but at the same
time be absolutely Unlawful to dispose Of 6sh
| - ~A~ ~NASA AAu1 ~aANht uat
almost always, are taken In . seine. This
conflict also applies to ish taken In weirs.
| Heretofore the laws relating to this great
and important industry. which affects mot
only those directly interested but the welfare
OF the whole State. have been originated by
and passed through the influence OF those
who had some particular interest In par
| ticulAr law.
| 1t seems TO me that the time has arrived
when all interested in this business, either
directly or indirectly, should approach the
| matter in sensible way, and all those
directly interested in the fisheries should
come together Is friends OF the industry
not - enemies. and endeayor to recommend
| 70 the next legislature laws which may be
| satisfactory 10 all concerned and OF benefit to
the whole industry.
Everyone Knows that the prcse Mt laws are
source OF trou BILE, annoyance and cx pense, and
are causing constant friction between those
directly engaged in the business. particularly
| seiners and weirnen. who take the ash from
the water.
As q citizen OF this State, as . fisherman,
weirmsn and seiner who has the welfare OF
this industry and lie interests Of the Asher
men at heart, and With NO other motive or
view iu mind, wish to publicly make the
following suggestions:
First, that the fishermen and l mean by
this those who are catching herring and
those who'Are dependent upon herring for
bait - in each community. the sardine-
packers and cold storage nen, get tognther
and talk this matter over as neigh bors .. .
business proposition. and see IL they cannot
agree upon certain laws that ought to be
passed to straighten shis whole matter out
and put an erd "a the unnecessary friction
which has existed as long ~ can remember.
Second, let one locality communicates with
another. so that between now and the nrst Of
January there can, IL possible. be q meeting
where majority may agree upon recon-
mending the passage OF sone good. fair. Just
laws which may be reasonably satisfactory to
all.