The Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission 1882

Fishery News from Gloucester Massachusetts. February 12, 1882
by S.J. Martin

The weather during the last month has been very bad for all kinds of fishing. When there is a chance they get some fish in nets. When nets have been down two or three days with fish in them, most of the fish are spoiled. The nets get badly torn; they could do better with them than with trawls, however, if they had fine weather. The Schooner Northern Eagle arrived yesterday; she had been trawling down at Boone Island. When there was a chance to set, they would get 2,000 pounds of fish with 9,000 hooks. the average a night with 24 nets last week was 2,500 pounds. The nets would do better than that. We had such bad weather that it keeps the water thick and dirty all the time. When the nets are hauled up they are full of seaweed, kelp and all such stuff; so, in rough weather, they don't have much chance to fish.

I had a talk with George, my son; he says he never saw so many beach-fish as he saw last Wednesday; they were offshore and as far in as the eye could see; they were bound to the westward. The same day he saw a large school of porpoises bound west. The vessels that were out in the last gale, February 4th., come in slowly. I am sorry to say I think some of them will never come. Some of the haddock vessels have been gone four weeks. Some of the Georges vessels have been out as long; I hope they will all come, but I think it doubtful. All the vessels that have come in are more or less damaged; they all report the gale very hard.

I think if we had fine weather they would do well with nets for a month to come. The fresh halibut catchers that have come in fared hard; their decks swept, and the dories stove. All say one thing: it was a bad time.

Gloucester, Massachusetts, February 12, 1882.