546 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



vicinity of Barnegat Inlet, and the menhaden fishermen of Tuckertou occasionally catch them iu 

 their purse-seines. 



The commercial fishery is of recent origin, and it is only within the past few years that any 

 considerable quantities have been taken for market. The fishery practically began off the New 

 Jersey coast in 1873, and the mackerel were first extensively taken iu Chesapeake Bay in 1875. 

 This fact has little or no significance iu its bearing upon the abundance of the fish, for the increased 

 catch is almost wholly accounted for in both localities by the change in the methods of fishing. 



2. APPARATUS AND METHODS OF CAPTURE. 



Three kinds of apparatus are used in the Spanish mackerel fishery, namely, the troll-line, the 

 gill-net, and the pound-net. The troll-line is more extensively employed off the Long Island coast 

 and along the shores of Northern New Jersey than in auy other locality. It was introduced into 

 the region at an early date, and for some time was the most important method in the fishery. It 

 has been less extensively used during the past ten years, and is now chiefly employed by parties 

 fishing several miles from the shore. Large open boats and small sloops, carrying from two to five 

 men each, are used for trolling. The trolling-hooks, or "squids," as they are frequently called, 

 differ greatly. Some are made of bright metals in the form of a fish, while others more nearly 

 resemble the body of a squid, these being usually painted in brilliant colors. The number of hooks 

 varies from one to three according to the kind of squid used. In the absence of a manufactured 

 squid the fishermen frequently improvise very good ones by attaching a piece of red or white cloth 

 to ordinary fish-hooks. In fishing, the hooks art- attached to lines several fathoms in length, four 

 or five of these being towed behind the boat, which spreads enough canvas to drag them through 

 the water at a speed of two to four miles per hour. The fishermen are often successful in catching 

 large numbers of mackerel in this way. 



At Sandy Hook gill-nets were first employed in the capture of mackerel in 1866, but being 

 "set taut," they were not very successful, the fish usually detecting their presence and refusing to 

 enter them. When it was found that, although abundant, the fish did not gill readily, schools of 

 them were often surrounded by the nets, after which the fishermen attempted to frighten them 

 into the meshes by splashing with oars in the center of the circle. The majority, however, would 

 pass under the lead-lines, or jump over the cork-lines, and escape, so that comparatively few were 

 taken. Still the nets continued to be used with varying success, though the bulk of the catch was 

 taken by trolling. About 1872 or 1873 it was accidentally discovered that the mackerel would gill 

 more readily in nets set iu such a way as to present sharp angles, quite a number having been 

 secured iu a net that had become twisted and tangled by the currents. This fact suggested a 

 change in the manner of setting, and various experiments were made by the fishermen of Seabright 

 with good results. The first "sets" were somewhat crude, but experience enabled the fishermen to 

 improve upon them from year to year. 



The figures in the accompanying illustration represent the principal methods of setting the 

 gill nets for the capture of Spanish mackerel off Sandy Hook from 1866 to the present time. Fig. 

 1 shows the first method, locally known as the "straight set." The other figures represent, iu their 

 order, the more important methods that have since been introduced. At the present time the nets 

 are set in pairs, and the three "sets" shown iu Figs. 6, 7, and 8 are most commonly employed. 



These are locally known as the "square set," "T set," and " harpoon-set," the names describing, 

 to a certain extent, the shape of the nets as they appear in the water. In the square-set, Fig. 6, 

 one of the nets is placed perpendicular to the shore to form a leader, while the other is set iu 

 the form of a square at the outer end, openings of 3 or 4 feet being left on either side of the 



