“As already indicted, the halcyon days of the Nunan fleet and its companions were in the early 1900’s, when there were sometimes five or six {schooners} in the harbor at once, ready to set sail for the ‘Banks’ or just returning from the delivery of their cargoes. As their numbers declined, the business of outfitting them grew less, naturally somewhat affecting the prosperity of the Cape, or at least altering its business. For a while the schooners were replaced in some degree by fast-sailing sloops, cheaper to own and easier to handle. They fished along the coast and marketed their product either in Kennebunkport or Portland. During this period a new type of fishing known as gill netting was introduced, in which Mr. Hartley Huff is said to have been a pioneer.”
Melville C. Freeman in the “History of Cape Porpoise”