Glossary F

Fishing

Fishing was always a significant industry in America.   There were an estimated 1,000 fishing vessels in New England by 1740, which were built from the abundance of wood that was cheap and readily available in America.   In Massachusettts, Marblehead had 60 fishing ships and Gloucester had 70 ships in 1741.   By 1790, thousands of men and ships were employed in the fishing industry   The New England colonies, such as, Marblehead, MA, operating in the cod banks of Newfoundland, were the most heavily involved.   The largest fish, those hardest to cure, were sold for domestic consumption, the medium-sized fish were dried and salted for Europe, and the smallest were sold to Caribbean colonists for slave food. ^{Carruth 27}   Fish and meat preservation was an important use of salt - another reason for the importance of salt mining.

Flocculent

A chemical added to water to combine with impurities to produce aggregates ("flogs") that float or sink, thus enabling them to be separated from other materials.