Year: 1876

THE MACKEREL FISHERY
WHERE, HOW, AND BY WHOM THE FISH ARE


CAUGHT.


Mackerel, of some sort or other, are always
in season, and always in request for the table
In early spring We feast on the fish in all its
pristine freshness. and as the year advances il
comes by gradual stages to the orthodox win.
ter breakfast dish-the salted member of the
species. In any shape, it is favorite, how
ever. In its fresh state even, its normal ap'
pearance as it lies wet and cool under the ice
on display dish, it is appetizing-a claim
which its salted successors can certainly not
assert. But the salted mackerel is none the
less delicious.


Mackerel we're fshed for by the earliest
New England colonists, and the quest for them
soou developed into fishery of Importance.
They were at first taken in seines, nets, and
boats from the shore; but before the Revolu.
ton fleets of sloops had come to be engaged
in the business, and in 1770a hundred vessels
were employed in the fishery of Massachusetts
alone. The use Of vessels subsequently de.
clined, and up to the beginning of the present
century the fishing had relapsed into its prim.
tive condition. The granting of bounties on
fishing vessels, and of allowances on barrels
of picked fish, by the Federal Government,
revived the languishing industry, and to-day
the mackerel fishery is an important business
along our Atlantic coast, and employs total
of two thousand vessels Most of these are
small schooners of from thirty to hundred
and twenty tons, although of late much larger
ones have come into use, and are built upon
such models as to obtain, in some cases, an al
most yacht.like appearance and speed. The
latter quality is an eminently necessary one,
since in many cases the success of voyage
depends on the vessel getting to place where
fish have been discovered an hour sooner or
later.


The crews of these vessels are not paid any
stated salary, but are employed on what is
known as the half:line lay. That is, they
draw one-half of the gross catch for them
selves, and pay, out of it, the wages Of the
cook, one-balf of the bait bill, and one-half
of the packing, realizing, in good seasons, q
profit Of forty per cent. The captain, who is
generally an old and experienced fisherman,
receives from the owners commission of four
per cent. on the gross stock.


Mackerel are baited with a mixture ofsalted
CLAIMS and little ish, ground fine in mill pro.
vided on board the vessels for the purpose.
This bait is thrown on the waters, and sinking
to the depth at which the fish lie, lures them
to swapping indiscrIminately at bait or bare
hooks. So ravenously do the fish bite that
single fisherman often fills barrel in less
than half an hour. Each fisherman uses two
lines at once.


Line fishing, however, is fast giving place
to the seine, which first came into general use
about 1873. The seines weigh about 1000
pounds each, and are 175 fathoms' long and
"a fathoms wide or deep in the middle, grad
ually diminishing to II fathoms at the ends.
Corks placed few feet apart along the upper
rope serve to float the net, and along the low
er edge are fastened iron rings through which
the purse.line is rove. The seine is cast from
large barge, the ground having been baited
When the fish are seen ripping the water
the seine boat is dispatched, together with two
dories manned by one or two men each, to as
sist in making the cast The seine boat takes
position fifteen or twenty yards to the left of
the advancing shoal, the ends of the cork and
purse lines are given to one of the dories, and
the larger boat, propelled by eight or ten
oarsmen, is rapidly rowed acros the track Of
the fnny prey, to where the second dory has
taken its position. Then the purse line is
drawn, or in fishing psrlance, "pursed up"
inclosing the fish in the net. The schooner is
next brought alongside, and the fish are taken
from the seine in dip nets.


The process of seining in good weather is
perfectly easy; but high winds or rough
weather render it impracticable. 1t is sub
ject to failure, too, the fish often diving under
the net or taking fright and giving it the
"go-by." An unsuccessful cast Of the seine
pies about two hours. From two hum
dred to two hundred and fifty barrels of fish
are often taken in single cast, and that
quantity is about as much as can be well
taken care of at once. For this reason the
experienced fisherman rarely attacks the
largest shoals.


The mackerel fishing season begins in the
month of March, and steadily increases; from
July to November all the vessels engaged in
it are employed. The first cargoes landed
are of good size, but invariably poor quality,
but as the season advances the fish improve
in condition. The quality suitable for pack
ing usually begins to come in about July.


The early mackerel are ished for as far
south as Cape Henry, and from thirty to
fifty miles off shore. In the first two months
of the season, the fish are iced as soon as
caught, and brought fresh to the New York
market. The fish move north as the season
advances, and from the beginning of May to
the end of June are found all along the coast,
from Cape May to Gay Head. During the
remainder of the season, they progress steadi-
ly northward. In July they are caught off
the New England coast; in August they
seek the waters of Maine, and from that time
the fishery in the Canadian waters assumes
its hugest proportions. The fishing of the
coast of the United States is rapidly surpass-
ing that off the Canadian coast. The best
catches of New England are made off Chat
ham, Maine, and on Georges Banks, in Au-
gust. Market boats, small crafts of from tbir-
ty to sixty tons, convey the fish fresh to the
Boston market.


Mackerel go in large schools, but scattered
sometimes over an extent Of miles of ocean.
In hunting them, number of vessels, spread
ing over an extensive area of ground and
throwing out great deal of bait, are likely to
attract them in much greater force and with
much more facility than single vessel would.
In consequence of this, the mackerel schoon.
ers usually sail in fleets. Long practice lends
the various vessels of a feet unity Of action
as perfect as If their movements we're direct
ed by a commodore. They sail from port
and return to it together. The tacking of the
foremost vessel of the fleet is signal for all
the vessels to go about When one heaves to
ond tr;es for mackerel. the others either fol,