Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1922-02-04
LOBSTER INDUSTRY OF Maine
AND WHAT MUST Be DONE TO
PRESERVE IT, BY DIRECTOR erie

Director Horatit D. erie of Rock
land, of the Maine Sea and Shore
Fisheries Commission has written a
most interesting article on the lob
ster industry on the coast of Maine
and in particularly convincing man.
ner shows, through the story of the
decline of the mackerel fishery, what
must be done to save the lobster in
dustry He writes:
Only half a century has passed
since the Holsters in the waters along
the Maine Coast were So plentiful
that count Holsters rs they were
termed of | Il pounds or over were
selling for 1-2c each and Holsters
weighing less than l II pounds were
selling for soc per one hundred
pounds to the factories for canning
purposes.
In those days it was not the
amount OF Holsters a fisherman could
catch that bothered him. Il was the
number he could sell. The market
was very limited and there We're only
a few lobster fishermen along the
coast. hence the Holsters We're only
iished in the spring while the fisher
men were waiting for the mackerel
and porgies to migrate to the Maine
Coast. AS soon as the first mackcrCl
appeared hundreds Of small boats
would collect in groups and the fish
ermen would throw bait until the fish
had collected and begun to bite, then
the fun would begin.
Only the oldest fishermen have eX-
perienced the sport of catching mack
erel when they were so ravenous that
,, they would take the jig or hook as
soon as it struck the water. then 1t
vas "Hurrah, BOYS, take off your coat
and hat. roll up your sleeves and SAIL
in" Two lines We're used by each
fisherman when the fish were biting
good and before one line could be
freed of its burden of one of the
pretty little fish the other line would
be tipping and another mackerel
waiting his doom. Then If one had
any red blood flowing through his
veins. when the mackerel began Bit
! ing it would surely put the pep into
! him, if not, something must have
| been wrong in his makeup for 1t was
surely exciting to say the least.
A more modern device was soon in
vented and substituted for the old
| line and jig. This device was the
| mackerel seine which was capable of
taking hundreds of barrels at one
haul. This great money making
scheme spread like a forest fire and
was certainly just as destructive.
Every ship yard was kept busy build
ing vessels and the mackerel fleet in
creased by leaps and bounds until
1888 there numbered $50 macknrcl
seining vessels on the coast and the
majority of them carried two seincs
The banner years were 1888, 1854,
1885 and 1885 and approximately L.
0000 barrels were taken, each bar
rel avcra ginC nearly 500 fish or ~
2800o0,000 fish and these figures do
! not tell the whole story, for approx
mately one-fifth more were wasted.
! making a total of probably close to
! 1000, 600, 900 fish taken annually. This
method of fishing could have been
pursued for years if the fishermen
had practiced economy and protec-
ton instead of waste and destruction.
In the spring a greater part Of the
fleet sailed south and when the large
schools of mother fish first appeared
! heavily laden with spawn they were
captured by the million, each fish
carrying many thousands of eggs.
! This being true can you wonder why
the mackerel have disappeared, ard
still there is something more to tell.
The few remaining fish that were
lucky enough to reach the spawning
beds deposited their spawn and thus
fulfilled their mission as far as moth
er nature was concerned. but they
might as well have been taken with
the rest for the fishermen dressed
those taken and dumped the refuse
on the spawning beds covering Ae
already deposited spawn with de-
caying substance and thus destroy