550 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



Three or four men are required for fishing a pound-net, though by adding one or two to the force 

 several nets are frequently tended by the same gang. The average stock for marketable fish 

 during the season for this locality is about $4,200 to the net ; the species, named in order of value, 

 being Spanish mackerel, tailors, trout, sheepshead, porgies, and mixed fish. If the value be 

 neglected and the number of individuals taken be considered, the order should be changed so as 

 to read : trout, tailors, mackerel, mixed fish, porgies, and sheepsbead ; in addition to the refuse 

 fish, which are either thrown away or used for fertilizing purposes.* 



On the western shore of the Chesapeake the pounds are much smaller and the catch is pro- 

 portionately less, while the fishing season is also different. Here the pounds are put out in time 

 for the run of shad, which begins early in March and continues till the last of May. After the 

 shad season is over many of the nets are taken up. Almost none remain down throughout the 

 summer, though a number are fished in the fall for trout and other species. On the eastern shore 

 the law allows pounds to be fished only between the 25th of June and the 1st of October, during 

 which time they are lifted regularly every day when the weather will permit. 



3. FISHING SEASON FOR THE DIFFERENT LOCALITIES. 



Owing to the enormous extent of sea-coast over which Spanish mackerel are taken and to the 

 variation of the fishing season with the locality, these fish may be seen in the New York markets 

 during a greater part of the year. According to the report of the Fulton Market dealers, their 

 first appearance in 1879 occurred in April, when 98 pounds were received. The quantity gradually 

 increased till July, during which month 114,309 pounds were handled. From this date the catch 

 fell oft' rapidly until in November only 657 pounds were received, and in December but a single 

 mackerel was seen in the market. 



The fishing season for Long Island and New Jersey extends over several months; but the 

 bulk of the catch is taken between the 20th of August and the 20th of September; and, allowing 

 for Sundays and stormy weather, there are ordinarily only 20 good fishing days, though small 

 quantities are taken almost every day dining the stay of the fish on the coast. 



In the Chesapeake the fishing season is somewhat longer, owing perhaps to the warmer tem- 

 perature of the water in the early spring. It begins late in May, and is at its height from the 

 10th of June to the 1st of September, when the mackerel start for the ocean. 



4. DISPOSITION OF THE CATCH. 



Almost the entire catch of Spanish mackerel is consumed in a fresh state. A few are salted 

 by the fishermen of North Carolina, who, owing to their ignorance of the value of the species in 

 the Northern markets, as well as to the lack of suitable shipping facilities, seldom market their 

 catch in a fresh state. Those salted are not considered very valuable, and the inhabitants are 

 seldom willing to pay more than $5 or $6 a barrel for them, placing them on a par with the blue- 

 fish and other common species. It is doubtless true that the fine flavor of the mackerel is very 

 much impaired by salting, and that as a salt fish it is inferior to the common mackerel (Scomber 

 scombrus), with which every one is familiar. 



In 1879 the cannery at Ocracoke Inlet purchased small quantities of mackerel and put them 

 up in two-pound cans, but the business was very limited, and no extensive trade was developed, 



* According to the best-informed fishermen, 100,000 trout, 40,000 bluefish, locally known as tailors, 30,000 Spanish 

 mackerel, 10,000 mixed fish, 3.000 porgies, and 1,000 sheepshead represented the catch of the average pound for 1879. 

 The money value of the catch was estimated as follows : Mackerel, 36 per cent. ; tailors, 24 per cent ; trout, 21 per cent.; 

 sheepshead, 6 per cent. ; porgies, 5 per cent. ; mixed fish, 8 per cent. 



