Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/799

MACKEREL 793 jigs are baited with small pieces of tlie skin of the mackerel. When about to make a trial the vessel is hove to on the starboard tack, and thus lies drifting moderately to leeward. Bait is then thrown to entice the mackerel to the surface, or " raise " them as it is termed, and to keep them alongside. The bait consists chiefly of porgies, though clams are sometimes used, and is ground in a bait mill, and thrown from boxes hung over the side of the vessel. The average quantity of bait used during the season by each vessel is 80 barrels, though when the fish are taken with the seine not more than 25 barrels are required. If the mackerel are successfully raised and bite well, three hours suffice to secure 100 barrels. Vessels of the average size have capacity for 250 or 300 bar- rels, and usually prepare for a trip of four or five weeks. The process of dressing mackerel consists of four distinct operations, splitting, gipping, ploughing, and salting. The splitter splits the fish at the rate of 1,500 per hour, the knife passing along the back from the head to the tail, leaving the back bone on the right side, and throws them into a tub. Two gip- pers stand at each tub, remove the gills and entrails, and pass the fish into a barrel, called the "wash" barrel, where they are allowed to soak. Subsequently they are taken out singly, laid on a board skin down, and a light stroke of the plough, which consists of a piece of knife blade or similar instrument, is given on each side of the fish from the head two thirds down to the tail. When the fish are taken rapidly, however, this operation (which is de- signed to give the fish an appearance of fat- ness) is sometimes postponed until after they are landed. The last operation, salting, is performed by laying the fish singly in a bar- rel and sprinkling a light handful of salt on each. They are then allowed to remain over night, when some of the pickle is drained off, and the barrels are filled, headed up, and stow- ed below. A little less than a bushel of salt is used for a barrel, and it requires five wash barrels to make four barrels of salted fish. After being landed the mackerel are assorted, inspected, and branded by a state officer ap- pointed for the purpose, and repacked for market. The size and quality are denoted by the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4. No. 1 mackerel must be 13 in. long; No. 2, 11 in. To rate as No. 1 or No. 2 they must also be fat and in good condition. When of inferior quality and 13 in. in length, they are branded as No. 3 large; between 10 and 13 in., No. 3. All other mackerel free from taint or damage are rated No. 4. The first cargoes landed are in- variably poor, and usually of good size. As the season advances the mackerel improve in condition, and after the beginning of July they are usually fat enough to pack according to size. The method of employing the crew in general use is known as the "half -line lay." By this method the crew draw one half of the gross stock, out of which they pay the cook's wages, one half of the bait bill, and one half of the expense of packing, realizing about 40 per cent. net. When the hook and line are used, the fish caught by each man are kept separate, and the voyage is settled individually. In the cases of seiners the voyage is simply divided into shares for the men and parts of shares for the boys. The manager or " boss " of the seine generally receives from $50 to $100 extra from the owners, who also pay the cap- tain a commission (usually about 4 per cent.) on the gross stock. The price of mackerel in the market, particularly the better qualities, is subject to great fluctuations. The average earnings of a fisherman employed through the season may be stated at $300. The season begins about the first of April, and the fleet gradually increases until July, the greatest num- ber of vessels being employed from that time to the early part of November, when the sea- son closes. The early fleet, from 25 to 50 sail, first find the mackerel as far S. as Cape Henry and about 50 m. from land. For the first two months they ice the fish as soon as caught, and bring them fresh to the New York market; after that they carry salt and barrels and cure the fish. As the season advances the mackerel move N., the distance from the shore varying with the wind, being less with a W. than an E. wind ; and from about the first of May to the latter part of June they are found from Cape May to Gay Head. About the first of July they move E. around the S. side of Nantucket, and from then until September they may be caught anywhere from that island to .Cape Sable. During July and August many of the vessels cruise on George's bank ; after the first of September the fleet is scattered from the Maine coast around the shore to Chatham, the last catch being usually off that port. A small fleet of "market boats," from 30 to 50 tons each, from Boston, Swampscott, and Duxbury, supply the Boston market with fresh fish, ma- king their first trip about the middle of May, when mackerel first appear in Boston bay, and continuing until the last of November. In June a number of vessels, principally from Gloucester, Maine, and Nova Scotia, proceed to the gulf of St. Lawrence, and pursue the fishery chiefly around the shores of Prince Ed- ward island and the Magdalen islands. This fleet increases during July and August, and is largest from that time until the last of Octo- ber, when the season closes. The importance of the gulf fishery in comparison with the shore fishery, as that along the Atlantic coast is termed, has recently diminished. The num- ber of barrels of mackerel inspected in th? United States in 1873 was as follows : STATE. No. 1. 12,770 No. 2. No. 3. No. 4. Aggregate. Maine 6,845 2,579 22,194 2,548 185,738* Massachusetts Total 83,688 96,458 63,889 37,795 36t<* 70,734 40,874 366* 210,480*