The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1910-11-17
Maine coast is the fact that they are being
caught more and more each year in southern
waters before they get SO far north,

caught more and more each year in southern
waters before they get SO far north,
The history Of the herring fisheries of Nor.
way shows that in the last seven hundred years
there have been three periods; seventy, fiftv
and thirty years, respectively, in which the
herring have left the coast and not one w.s
taken during these years; but for over one
hundred years their catch has continued about
the same each year. About three years ago
laws were passed prohibiting trawl fishing
within three miles Of the shore, as the travis
interfered with herring fishing. which is the
most important Of their fishing industries.
The State of Maine is letting a wouldbe in
dustry of the utmost Importance go almost nm
touched by neglecting to furnish any incentive
or instructions to her coastwise inhabitants
for catching and curing her herring; or, in fact
any of her fish, as all foreign nations are doing
thereby causing a loss to our coast towns of
thousands OF dollars annually. Our trade is
being supplied by herring imported from
foreign countries. The statistics show that
the United States imported one hundred and
ninety-eight thousand barrels of herring from
the little country of Holland, besides what was
brought in from all other Europeon countries
The same statistics show that over seven
hundred thousand cases of sardines were i'm.
ported last year. Meanwhile the people Of
Lubec and Eastport will see the hardest winter
that has been known in that vicinity. simn,v
because lot of hystercal people passed lot
OF foolish laws regulating an industry about
which they are entirely ignorant. l feel per-
fectly safe in saying that if our fish were
caught with the same care and the same meth
DDS as are used by foreign countries, and cured
by approved methods, which our State THROUGH
scientific investigation could instruct us to do
that every shore town in Maine could have an
industry that would be worth thousands of dol
lars annually to our people.
The province of New Brunswick passed a
stringent law few years ago against seining
herring in Charlotte county, which is the
county in which the most herring are caught.
This law has made it possible for a combina-
ton to be formed among the weirmen of Passa-
maquoddy Bay which allows two companies to
take all the fish which the combine catches re-
gardless Of any price offered by competing
companies. If such legislation should be
enacted by our next Legislature in this State
it would certainly leave an opening for such a
combination whereby few of the larger COM
panies could, by combining with the weirmen,
create monopoly which would deprive all the
smaller companies from obtaining fish and
drive them out of business
believe that have given the herring fish
orIac Y1nh %ho,,1 -
OF Maine. My company is also largely inter-
ested in maintaining weirs and will build more
the coming year. My grandfather built the
first weir on the coast of Maine, and my father
operated the first sardine factory in Lubec.
Is it probable that l should want to see the
herring exterminated or the weir fishing ruin
ed? At the same time l have fought at each
session of the Legislature for seventeen years
to have law passed allowing improved meth
DDS of catching herring
1t is time Maine awakened to her opportuni-
ties along this line, and time that the fisher
men of broad and fair minds awakened to the
fact that they are using the same old methods
for catching and curing fish that we're in vogue
before the Christian Era.
Now submit to every intelligent citizen of
the State. Does it look reasonable that there
is not possible way to improve those anti
quated methods, or are we still to continue
with the same old hook and line and the same
old weir. Go out and catch the fish, throw
them into the boat, let them lie in the bottom
from twenty -four to thirty hours unclean-
ed, bring them ashore dress them, throw them
down in corner with little salt, and after
washing and drying offer them to the people as
an article of food.
1t is time the people of Maine took interest
enough to study Up this question for them
selves, and not oe LED by the village philoso-
/ pher and the cracker box encyclopedia; to ask
our incoming Legislature for an appropriation
to be used in the scientific investigation of ou,
fisheries through commission and then enact
such Legislation they recommend 1t woulc
certainly be one of the best things that the in.
coming Democratic Legislature could turr
their attention towards.-E. M. LAWRENCE,
Rockland, Me.