Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1911-10-18
THE PoRaY CATCH.

Fishing ON the Maine Coast This
Year Has Been Successful.
A press dispatch from Portland says
about ll6o,ooo worth Of porgies have BEEN
caught OF the Maine coast during the
past six weeks. It hardly seems possible
that the small fish could have totalled up
such huge amount, but that IL fact.
Everybody has known that the menhaden
have been numerous OF the coast, but not
before have there been any figures avsila-
BILE.
Pilot e. p. Carnage, Of the steamer Ari-
zona, declares that the porgy steamers
that have been OF the Maine coast this
year have landed fully 5000 barrels, and
even that is probably placing the figure
low. A conservative estimate Of the value
Of these fish is $4,000. They would be-
worth that just as they were taken from
the water, but when turned into the oil and
fertilizer they will be worth much more.
1t has been fifteen years since the pcr-
Ries have been found on the Maine coast.
ut was great news to the fleet, - says
Pilot Carnage, "when we heard that tie
porgies had appeared in large numbers on
the Maine coast. We had been catchlng
the Ash down in Delaware bay, but they
were thin and did not yield much oil.
The Maine fish have been larger and latter
than those caught to the southwark. Al .
result the catch on the Maine coast has
been much more valuable"
The Arizona Is the nighttime ship Of the
porgy feet. Up to the present time, the
catch Of this steamer alone has been $1,000
barrels. OF this amount, 10000 have been
taken OF the Maine coast, while the rest
were caught in Delaware bay. The
other steamers that have been operating
here have not landed - many barrels ~
the Arizona, but they have taken enough
10 that the whole total to date will easily
reach the 1900 barrels mark which has
already been mentioned.
Just ct present, the steamers Of two COM
panies are operating OF the Maine coast.
The Menhaden Fisheries Co. has the
Arizona, Quickstep and Vesper, while the
Atlantic Fisheries Co. has the Alaska,
Ranger, Rollin E. Mason, Portland,
Walter Adams and Montauk. The float
ing fish factory Mills, which was in port
over Q month ago, is the property Ct the
Menhsden company.
The Mills has not been used extern
sively this season. Pilot Carnage said
that instead OF putting it at work, it
has been given series of successive tests
SO that the true worth of the ship could
be demonstrated. The craft has proved
successful, and next year will be used for
the purpose to which it was intended she
should be put. During the present sea-
son, the majority of the porgies have been
landed at Bristol, where there is a factory,
and there they have been refined into oil,
while the refuse has been made into fer
tilizer.
But for all the porgy season has been 80
successful OF the Maine coast, it is now
nearing an end. About two weeks more
and the fish will have disappeared from
the waters. The great majority of them
have lately been taken around Half Way
rock, but they have been found near
Boothbay in large quantities. They never
get east Of Frenchman's bay. Just at
present, owing to the rough weather, but
few have been caught. More than that,
the fish have been very wild and have
avoided the nets, SO that the catch has
been much smaller than it otherwise
would have been.