pound-nets were fished in Virginia waters, with two others located at Crisfield, Maryland, just above the Virginia line." When it is stated that, ten years later, in the two States of Virginia and Maryland there were 1670 pound-nets, and the total catch of food fish in those States for that year, in all forms of apparatus, reached the vast aggregate of 67,656,041 pounds, the effect of this coast fishery on the markets will be apparent, especially when it is known that practically all of this immense product that would load a fleet of three hundred large fishing-vessels, and about half of which is taken in pound-nets-is sold fresh, and includes the choicest species, such as shad, Spanishmackerel, striped bass, blue-fish, sheep'shead, etc. When delicious Potomac shad sell for less than ten cents each, as during the present year (1896), it is easy to understand the difficulty of successfully competing with them. And this was more than paralleled by conditions in 1893, when many tons of living weakfish-one of the best of our food fishes--were turned out into the open sea from the retaining pounds of Rhode Island, because oversupply of fish was so great that the price for them at Fulton Market was not sufficiently high to pay the cost of transportation and leave any balance to the fish

ermen.

Similar and only less startling statistical statements might be made concerning New Jersey, so conveniently near the large cities of New York and Philadelphia. The great fisheries of the North Carolina sounds, and the catches obtained in pound-nets on Long Island, or in certain sections of southern New England, are also far too important factors in influencing the supply of food fish to be omitted, if a detailed discussion were possible.

But while we may be content with only the slightest reference to these localities, which contribute their millions of pounds of fish to the general supply, we must not neglect to notice the fisheries of the Gulf States, which have recently experienced a phenomenal advance, from Florida to Texas.

Between sixty and seventy years ago Connecticut fishermen began supplying the Havana market with fish taken in the Gulf of Mexico, chiefly on the grounds off the shores of Florida. Their catches of red snappers, groupers, etc., were taken

alive to Havana in welled smacks, and disposed of at remunerative prices. In time this business fell largely into the hands of resident Key West fishermen. Finally it had to be practically abandoned, because of the prohibitory duties levied in Cuba. Attention was then turned to supplying to the markets of the North the large variety of fine fish which are taken in Gulf waters, and especially the redsnapper. About 1874 parties at Pensacola made attempts to organize the red-snapper fishery on an improved commercial basis. The success met with led to the subsequent participation of other firms, and ultimately to the spread of the business to other points.

Shipping fish from the Gulf shores rapidly developed, and soon extended so as to embrace nearly every favorably situated locality touched by the railroad, and to include many of the choice varieties of fish taken in that region.

Although it has not been found prac ticable to operate pound-nets, the catch by lines, seines, and gill-nets is large, the food fish reaching a total, for the region, in 1890, of 37,980,434 pounds. As in other cases, this excludes oysters and other shell-fish, as well as crustaceans and edible reptiles, which constitute a large percentage of the food taken from the waters of this section.

But the Great Lakes have a still more important influence. Lack of transpor tation facilities, the sparsely settled condition of most of the lake region, and general ignorance of modern methods of refrigeration made it impossible to fully develop the fishery resources until recently. Consequently the fisheries of this section exerted comparatively little influence half a century ago. Practically all the fish taken in the early days, except those locally eaten, were salted. Thus, while the settlers along the lake shores could obtain supplies for family use or for local distribution, the industry of fishing did not attain marked distinction until after 1850. This will be evidenced by the fact that the largest annual shipment of lake fish by canal - then the chief transportation agency for such products - from Cleveland, Toledo, and Maumee, prior to 1850, was only 17,792 half-barrels. The adoption of other methods of preparation, a few years later, and the utilization of swifter transportation, caused a marked increase in the distribution of lake fish.

The pound-net was introduced on Lake Erie about 1850, and a few years subsequently its use developed rapidly. The adoption of the pound-net was followed in about fifteen years by the inauguration at Sandusky of the process of artificially freezing fish, so that they could be kept in a frozen condition from fall until the next summer. This made possible the distribution of lake fish, in a thoroughly fresh condition, to the most distant parts of the United States. Subsequently freezing-houses were established at the leading fishing centres on the lakes, and they increased in number at Sandusky, some having a capacity of from ten to twenty tons per day. Steamers were also built to operate immense gangs of gill - nets, and for some years the development in this branch of lake fishery kept pace with progress in other directions.

The result is easy to anticipate. Not only do iced fresh fish from the Great Lakes meet those of the East in spring and summer, but the frozen products of these brothers of the ocean" stoutly contest for control of the markets in winter, and force their way even into New England. The energy and commercial enterprise exhibited by the lake dealers are most remarkable, and if these were supported by such unfailing sources of supply as can be drawn upon by those engaged in deep-sea fishing, it is evident the latter would meet even sharper competition in the future than in the past. But the limit to which the lakes can be safely drawn upon for fish food has long ago been reached, and the well-recognized falling off in abundance of the most de sirable species indicates that, even with the utmost fish-culture can do to assist in maintaining the supply, no greater competition can be expected from this region than exists now. But this has a marked influence, as will be easily understood when it is stated that the total production of the lakes in the last census year amounted to 117,085,568 pounds of food fish-enough to load about six hundred fishing vessels larger than the average sailing from New England.

Nor should we lose sight of the river fisheries, which, under the same impulses that have caused the conditions on the coast and in the lake region, have recently been actively pursued. As a consequence, many thousand pounds of fish are shipped from points in the Mississippi

River basin, where no commercial fishery existed a few years ago. The product of this river fishery will aggregate millions of pounds annually. It not only takes the place locally of salted sea fish, but competes with the latter for supremacy in the great markets of the Mississippi Valley.

Thus it will be seen that whereas to a large extent the products of the New England deep-sea fisheries had a monopoly of the markets of this country prior to 1850, the conditions then existing have changed radically. Consequently these products of the Atlantic fishery must now meet and compete with the salmon, sturgeon, cod, and halibut of the Pacific; the white-fish, trout, pike, perch, and cisco, or herring, from the Great Lake region; the catfish, buffalo-fish, and other species from the rivers; the red-snapper, pompano, and many other choice varieties from the Gulf coast; the shad, Spanish-mackerel, striped bass, and blue-fish from the region extending from North Carolina to New York; and also frozen smelts, herring, and fresh salmon from Canada, not to speak of Canadian-caught cod and mackerel, which are so extensively marketed in this country.

When it is remembered that practically all these numerous varieties of fishes, excepting a portion of those coming from Canada, and the Pacific cod, are put upon the market fresh, generally in the most attractive form, and usually at prices which indicate that the supply is more than ample for the needs of the people, is it remarkable that difficulty is found in competing with them, when the success of our deep-sea fisheries must depend chiefly upon marketing salt fish, which can be obtained only by the employment of costly and expensively fitted sea-going vessels? When the extent and character of this competition of coast and interior fisheries are considered, when also we find that the New England fisher had for many years to wage a sharp fight with Canadians for even a share in the home market, and when we see the American fishing bounty taken off, while a subsidy is given to foreign fishermen, is it any wonder that even New England courage, thrift, and enterprise have proved insufficient to successfully continue the contest? In view of all this, it is believed surprise will be felt that Gloucester and a few other ports still pursue the business

Impressive as this is, it is not all. For, while depressing influences have confronted the fisheries, New England has been developing her manufactures to a remarkable degree since 1850. And as these industries have grown they have become active competitors for the control of American labor. It is not therefore strange that the fisherman has often found remunerative and satisfactory employment at home, and that he has been disposed to accept a condition which not only attracts him to new fields of labor, but invites capital to build and operate manufactories instead of fleets of fishingvessels. Thus Marblehead, the quaint old port, whose fishermen performed such important services on sea and land during the Revolutionary war, is now a town of shoemakers. It is true a few old fishermen, with salt - hardened and deeply bronzed faces, still go dory-fishing, or act as bumboat-men to the many yachtsmen who go there in summer. But, nevertheless, there is an odor of leather about the place; the talk is of the price per case for making foot-wear, and yarns of famous fishing voyages, of wrecks, and of miraculous escapes are now rarely told, for they are as ancient history as Whittier's story of "Skipper Ireson's Ride."

Newburyport, once celebrated for its mackerel fleet and its cod fishers who went to Labrador, is now a city of spindles, and the hum of cotton-mills is the industrial music of the hour.

New Bedford, too, is now a great manufacturing centre. While it still has a fleet of whalers, which rendezvous at San Francisco, and rarely "round the Horn" for the home port, the whale-fishery is a decadent industry, and receives comparatively little consideration, except from those directly interested in its prosecution. Partially dismantled "blubber-hunters " -as the old ships are called-lie contentedly alongside the wharves, where they seem to be kept rather as reminders of other days for the curious to gaze at than for any present or prospective utility.

A few months ago the writer saw a

arms of its proud grandmother, and he was told that this son of a New England whaling skipper had never been seen by his father, who had passed the previous winter near the mouth of the Mackenzie River, and at that moment was probably hunting whales among the ice-floes that fill the ocean along the northern shores of this continent. Such separation of husband and father from wife and children is hard to bear, and when satisfactory employment can be found on shore, which will admit of a united family, it is usually accepted. And to that extent the fisheries are deprived of the skill and hardihood necessary to their successful continuance.

It may be incidentally mentioned that in addition to the growing scarcity of whales, and the rivalry of other industries, the whale-fishery has suffered from a remarkable decline in the price of oil, due to the competition of mineral oils and other materials which take its place. The influence of this is such that whales are now often hunted for their bone alone. since in some cases the oil is not thought sufficiently valuable to warrant saving the blubber and trying it out.

The menhaden fishermen have also keenly felt the result of this change, for the success of their industry depends chiefly on the price of oil. Thus, though the average catch of fish per vessel in recent years is larger than it was in former periods, the business is frequently unremunerative. Therefore this comparatively new branch of sea fishery, in which New England is largely interested, seems to be suffering almost as much as any other from the strangulation caused by competition.

Various minor causes have contributed to the decay noticeable in many coast fishing-towns. Mr. F. W. True makes the following reference to one of them in The Fishery Industries of the United States (vol. i., section v., page 599):

"The restless waters of Massachusetts Bay have caused many changes in the configuration of the northern shore of Cape Cod. Moved by their power, the sand has spread itself in an even plain, extending from high-water mark a half-mile seaward, and but little inclined to the plane of the horizon. Relentlessly it has filled the old-time harbors, and thereby stifled the activity of the north-shore fishing-towns of former days. But while the vessel fishery

has forever disappeared from many of the towns, the weir fishery has taken its place to a considerable extent."

The scarcity of certain important ocean fishes has had a somewhat dejecting influence on those fishermen who relied chiefly upon the pursuit of these species. For some years decrease in abundance of the halibut on the grounds where it is chiefly sought has been one of the marked features of the Atlantic fisheries. How ever, this has not so far caused any material loss in financial receipts, since there has been an enhancement of price when

halibut-fishery has never had any special importance except at Gloucester.

The present scarcity of mackerel, which there is reason for believing is only temporary-a repetition of history so far as relates to this species-is a far more important matter. Probably no other branch of the New England sea fishery was so much relied on by the fishermen of the smaller coast towns as that which had the mackerel as the object of pursuit. though the cost of prosecuting this fishery was materially advanced by the general adoption of the purse-seine as an appara

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the supply temporarily failed to equal the demand. Also, the discovery of new halibut banks or areas from time to time has generally enabled the fishermen to supply the demand, while this changing from one locality to another may possibly enable the fallow grounds, which are at least temporarily depleted, to regain something of their old-time fertility. If so, no serious inconvenience may be anticipated, but only time can answer this question. The most that can be said of it now is that it needs no consideration, so far as the general decadence of the New England fishing towns is concerned, since the

tus of capture, and the disparity of catches between vessels was increased, there was still a reasonable average of success in seasons of abundauce. Consequently a show of prosperity was maintained at some of the fishing coves and harbors, even after the grip of financial disaster had been felt in most of them. For it must be conceded that the decadence. which began shortly after the middle of the century, continued more or less uninterruptedly, and even the phenomenal abundance of mackerel in the early eighties, culminating in 1884, when the catch exceeded any ever made, scarcely arrest