Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1910-12-07
scAHcfrY o. HERRING.
Portland View Of the Situation
In the FishiBg Industry.


PovtlAad View Of the situation
In the Fishing Industry.
IL seizure in Portland, recently, OF 500
barrels Of herring in transit from the
United Fish Co., Of Boston, to PASSPORT
sardine canning factories, under the pure
thai the fish were unit for food and
shoald be used ~ fertilizer, has aroused
interest among Portland men interested
in the preservation OF Maine shore fisher
Zee, and calls into discussion the reasons
why Maine should be compelled to secure
herring from Boston for its canneries,
" hen the reverse should, under normal
conditions, be true.
b 10 in line with the .'bringing OF Goals
to Newcastle, in the opinion OF expert
fsh men 10 Portland, who recall the once
promiuent place that city occupied in the
fresh and salt fish business in contrast to
its commercial status in that respect to-
day. " here once Portland harbor was
forest OF mssts with hundreds OF msckerel
aoes Of fresh and salt fish, to-day they
nave entirely disappeared.
In late years, since the seventies, Maine
and Portland have suffered the loss OF
many thousands OF dollars yearly BY the
destruction OF her former wealth in fish,
and Gloucester is now the centre Of the
business.
compelled this season to close their fac
tories early, and the pack is but one half
the normal on account of the scarcity OF
barring. Sardine factories, recently put
into operation to the westward, on the
contrary, have been run 10 their full
capacity, and herring have been shipped
from this vicinity for the first time TO the
kAstport factories. Packers are thus
forced to admit that the herring have
forsaken Passamaquoddy bay and the
eastern waters where for years they have
been literally s'dshed to death :, and have
sought the western bays where they have
not yet been 90 eagerly sought by seining
steamers. The change in hsbitation Of
the little silver fishes has caused the
erection OF the Brown sardine factory At
south Portland, the big Lawrence factory
1t Rockland and others in the western
section.
Already there il extended discussion
in the press between the herring fisher
men and sardine packers over legislation
to b. sought as the incoming session OF the
Legislature. Herring is an eternal ques-
ton down east, and in the session of 1866
the weirmen won close Legislative fight
ovsr the packers. The former claimed the
packers were encroaching upon their
rights BY seining in the vicinity OF their
weirs, and the herring question with
ampliAcations will come mp at Augusta
again. Formerly there were many legisla-
tive restfsctions surrounding the packing
Of sardines before the passage OF the
national pure food law, which the packers
succeeded in having removed, and ma.
turauy the recent seizure under the pure
food act causes comment on this promi-
nens Maine industry.
Henry Dennis, OF Portland, one of the
Original advocates Of the pure food lAw
and owner OF the pen with which the act
was s,gn-d, believes that the destruction
OF herring, mackerei and cod while in
spawn, and the wholesale SEEMING and
wanton killing OF immense quantities,
particularly Of herring, lie at the bottom
OF the scarcity OF these fish. He recalls
the olden days Of the hand line, when all
kinda Of sround fish were taken in large
quantities hereaboots which made PORT
land the centre OF industry.
s'lf more stringent laws regarding the
seining OF spawning 6sh were passed ana
enforced, !" says Mr.. Dennis, ssthere would
be 10 need of Maine sardine factories
sending to Boston for herring. Years sso
l rsmember how plentiful were shad and
sturgeon in the Kennebec. Nov they
have aimoss disappeared. The reason OF
their disappearance was because fishermen
pursued the spawning fish into the rivers,
thus destroying the source OF their multi
plication. Years ago recall the advice OF
Prof. Agassix was sought by Maine. He
wrote that, by taking the spawning fish,
there would be . repetition in Maine OF the
history OF the herring in Holland, where
they totally disappeared for this reason.
he also said that he believed that fish
had method Of communicating with
each other, even from generation to gem
Grafton, and this would seem to account
for the hsh Of Q certain species which
were eagerly pursued forsaking those
habitats for many years. On the other
hand, he said that herring and other
fish would yield pienteous supplies from
year to year II taken from on shore.
The history Of the disappearance OF the
porsy from Maine will be repeated in the
herring II more stringent laws are not
enacted and enforced. l recall the pros
porous porgy days, when there were .
score Of busy factories along the coast.
Down at Bristol was located the plant OF
d. T. Church q Co., and when she steam
ers with their big seines appeared in the
seventies, he warned the trade that the oil