History of Fishing on Stellwagen Bank
Not unlike
its place in the history of New England whaling, the area of Stellwagen
Bank was central for only a relatively short period in the history of
New England's commercial fisheries. It played, nonetheless, a significant
role. Along with Jeffries Ledge and the Matinicus Sou'sou'west Ground,
Stellwagen Bank offered the cod, pollock, and haddock that formed the
foundation of the early colonial export trade. Although the high yield
potential of off-shore grounds was recognized, it was outweighed in
the early 17th century by the risks involved with such distant travel,
and at George's Bank, relatively close to Cape Cod, dangerous currents
and poor anchorage were a source of fear. The majority of fisherman,
save the most adventurous, preferred the safety of the closer grounds,
which were an easy days sail from most New England ports (Albion 1972:26).
However,
the fear of unfamiliar waters did not last long. By as early as the
end of the 17th century, colonial fisherman were venturing to such distant
locations as the banks off Newfoundland and Sable Island, which shortly
thereafter entertained a fleet of more than six hundred yankee vessels
employing some four thousand fishermen each year. Although the use of
local grounds such as Stellwagen Bank was generally in decline, there
were years of renewed use, typically corresponding to periods of international
tension and war. For example, in 1697, under French control of the northern
coast from Penobscot Bay to Labrador, colonial fisherman were forced
off the northern banks to grounds closer to the New England Coast and
were unable to return until the English victory of Queen Anne's War
in 1713. (Albion 1972:28-29). This pattern was repeated during the Revolutionary
War when British vessels made off-shore fishing a risky proposition
(Fisheries of Gloucester 1876:28) and again under the British treaty
of 1818, which denied American fisherman access to the waters of Labrador
and the Bay of Chaleur (Morison 1941:308).
In the
1830's, the local bay fishing grounds were once again bypassed; this
time for the rich grounds of George's Bank at which Captain Samuel Wonson
had proved safe anchorage was possible. Although a rise in the popularity
of mackerel fishing shortly after the Civil War brought increased numbers
of fisherman to New England shores and even at times into Massachusetts
Bay, winter fishing of George's Bank was soon established as the primary
source for the New England fresh-fish industry (Morison 1941:308).
In the
20th century, with the "growth of the trawler and dragger industries,"
attention turned once more to Stellwagen as a site for modest-scale
commercial fishing (Mastone 1990: 18). In the late 1980's, an annual
average of 16.2 million pounds of fish was harvested on the bank, with
approximately $12.5 million dollars of value annually (Pett and McKay
1990: 41). The most valuable species included bluefin tuna, cod, yellowtail
flounder, and pollock, although dogfish, whiting, cod, and pollock dominate
in terms of total poundage landed(Pett and McKay 1990:41).
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