The abolition of bounties was a blow to the fishing interests, which was destined to be followed by a more deadly one. It cannot, however, be said that it was wholly undeserved, for the requirement of four months’ service at sea had been often evaded. A very considerable number of the fishing fleet returned home before four months had expired, and anchoring in beach channel by night and cruising in the bay by day, spent the time in what was called bounty catching, until the expiration of the four months.
But a severer blow than the loss of bounty soon fell on the fishery. In 1871 the treaty of Washington between the United States and Great Britain provided that “fish oil and fish of all kinds, except fish of the inland lakes, and of the rivers falling into them, and except fish preserved in oil, being the produce of the fisheries of the United States, or of the Dominion of Canada, or of Prince Edward Island, shall be admitted into each country, respectively, free of duty.” This treaty went into operation July 1, 1873, to remain in force for ten years, and further until the expiration of two years after the United States or Great Britain shall have given notice to terminate it.
At the time of the repeal of the bounty law in 1866, the product of the Plymouth fishery taking the returns from the previous year as a basis of an estimate was as follows: Value of fish, $261,053; value of oil, $24,530; bounties, $14,249, and the number of men employed was 420. I am inclined to think that the largest number of vessels ever employed was in the year 1862, when sixty-seven were employed, but in 1873, the year the treaty of Washington went into operation, there were only twenty.
As nearly as I can judge the following is a correct list of vessels engaged in the fishery since 1828:
| Abby Morton | John Fehrman |
| Abeona | Joshua Bates |
| Adelaide | Juvenile |
| Adeline | Latona |
| Albatross | Leo |
| Albert | Leonidas |
| Albion | Lewis Perry |
| Annie Eldridge | Linda |
| Anti | Linnet |
| Arabella | Lizzie W. Hannum |
| Arno | Louisa |
| Aurora | Louise |
| Austin | Lucy |
| Avon | Lyceum |
| Banker | Malvina |
| Ben Perley Poor | Manchester |
| Betsey | Manomet |
| Blue Wave | Maria |
| Black Warrior | Martha Washington |
| Brontes | Mary A. Taylor |
| California | Mary Baker |
| Caroline | Mary Chilton |
| Ceres | Mary Holbrook |
| Challenge | Mary Susan |
| Charles | Massachusetts |
| Charles | Matilda |
| Charles Augusta | May |
| Charles Henry | Mayflower |
| Christie Johnson | May Queen |
| Clara Jane | Medium |
| Climax | Molly Foster |
| Clio | Mona |
| Clifford | Mountain King |
| Cobden | Nahant |
| Coiner | Naiad Queen |
| Columbia | Nathaniel Doane |
| Columbus | Neptune |
| Conanchet | N. D. Scudder |
| Confidence | Oasis |
| Congress | Ocean |
| Constitution | Old Colony |
| Cora | Olive Branch |
| Costello | Ontario |
| Deborah | Orion |
| Deliverance | Oronoco |
| Delos | Pamlico |
| Delta | Perseverance |
| Dolphin | Philip Bridges |
| Drake | Pezarro |
| Duck | President |
| Eagle | Profit |
| Elder Brewster | Rainbow |
| Eleanor | Reaper |
| Eliza | Reform |
| Eliza Ann | Rescue |
| Elizabeth | Resolution |
| Ellis | Risk |
| Engineer | Rival |
| Enterprise | Robert Roberts |
| Essex | Rollins |
| Experience | Roxanna |
| Fairplay | Sabine |
| Fair Trade | Samuel |
| Favorite | Samuel Davis |
| Fearless | Sarah and Mary |
| Fisher | Sarah E. Hyde |
| Flash | Sarah Elizabeth |
| Flora | Scud |
| Fornax | Seadrift |
| Florida | Seaflower |
| Forest King | Seafoam |
| Fortune | Sea Witch |
| Franklin | Seneca |
| Fred Lawrence | Silver Spring |
| Fredonia | Speedwell |
| Gentile | Storm King |
| George | Stranger |
| George Henry | Sunbeam |
| Glendora | Surprise |
| Glide | Susan |
| Grampus | Swallow |
| Guide | Thatcher Taylor |
| Hannah | Thetis |
| Hannah Coomer | Three Friends |
| Hannah Stone | Traffic |
| Hattie Weston | Tremont |
| Helena | Vesper |
| Herald | Village Belle |
| Hercules | Volant |
| Hero | Wampatuck |
| Hiram | Wanderer |
| Home | Wave |
| Horatio | Wide Awake |
| Howard | Willie Lord |
| Independence | Wm. Tell |
| Industry | Wm. Wilson |
| Jane | Winslow |
| John Eliot |
The following list of vessels employed in 1868 shows the gradual reduction of the fleet from sixty-seven in 1862 to twenty in 1873:
| Abby Morton | Mary Taylor |
| Adeline | Mary Susan |
| Avon | Matilda |
| Charles | May Flower |
| Charles Augusta | May Queen |
| Clara Jane | Nahant |
| Climax | Naiad Queen |
| Cora | N. D. Scudder |
| Delos | Oasis |
| Dolphin | Ocean |
| Elizabeth | Olive Branch |
| Engineer | Oronoco |
| Favorite | Profit |
| Florida | Risk |
| Forest King | Samuel |
| George | Samuel Davis |
| George Henry | Seadrift |
| Glendora | Sea Witch |
| Helena | Silver Spring |
| Herald | Sunbeam |
| Joshua Bates | Surprise |
| Juvenile | Swallow |
| Linnet | Thatcher Taylor |
| Louisa | Tremont |
| Manomet | Volant |
| Manchester | Wave |
| Martha Washington | Wampatuck |
| Mary Chilton | Winslow |
In 1869 there were fifty-four; in 1870, fifty-two; in 1871, forty; in 1872, twenty-six; in 1873, twenty; in 1874, twelve; in 1876, twelve; in 1878, eleven; in 1879, ten; in 1880, eight; in 1881, seven; in 1882, two; in 1883, two; in 1884, eight; in 1885, three; in 1886, one; in 1888, one, the Hannah Coomer, Capt. Nickerson, the last vessel to go to the Banks from Plymouth. In 1882 Prince Manter bought the Sabine, and Capt. James S. Kelley made seven trips in her in four summers, the last vessel to go to the Grand Banks, while the Hannah Coomer was the last to go to Quereau Bank.
The following is a list of fishing vessels lost since 1828, as complete as I am able to make it:
Abby Morton, Joseph Whitton, master, lost in Hell Gate, New York.