424 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



Salted mackerel are put ou the market in casks of several sizes; a small cask, 

 containing 8 or 9 fish from 1 to li feet in length and weighing about 10 pounds, com- 

 mands the price of 1 yen; a larger cask, holding 14 mackerel weighing twice as 

 much as the lirst cask, sells for 2 yen. The value of the salt mackerel packed in 1890 

 was 231,561 yen; and in 1891 it was 183,68G yen. 



THE TUNNY FISHERY. 



The tunnies — Thynnus sibi and T. albaoora, the shibi and kiwada-shibi, respec- 

 tively, of the .Japanese — move in large schools in the Kuro- Shi wo but never enter bays 

 or inland seas. They are carnivorous and feed on small fishes and squids, being often 

 seen dancing around shoals of small fish and eating them. They are very quick in their 

 movements and are good swimmers. Specimens 5 feet long and weighing over 124 

 pounds are quite common. The tunnies are caught throughout the year, but summer 

 is the best fishing season. They are caught with trawl lines and in pound nets. 



The tunny long line is a cord of about 1,250 feet with 10 snoods about 5 feet long, 

 and is worked at a depth of more than 400 feet. Both the cord and the snoods are 

 made of hemp, and put into shallow baskets. Two boats, with 8 or 9 men each, 

 usually work 12 basketfuls of the cord. To use it, 5 stones weighing about 27 ounces 

 apiece are tied to the cord ; also at each end of it is attached, by means of a cord about 

 300 feet long, a rod of Paulownia imperialis. To these again is tied at right angles a 

 long stem of bamboo, at the top of which some easily observable signals are placed. 

 The principal cord does not reach the bottom of the sea, but is kept suspended at some 

 intermediate depth. For bait, squids and horse-mackerel are used. 



The hooks are made of brass castings. 



The pound net used in tunny fishing is a fixed net made of straw on a large scale 

 and with great art. It is used at the extremities of wooded promontories in the 

 vicinity of Nagasaki. It consists of two principal parts, the leader and the bowl. 

 The leader, which is set near the coast, has 1-foot meshes. In the bowl the meshes at 

 first are also about 1 foot, but become smaller as they approach that portion which is 

 made of ropes of straw. The net is fixed by stones, some of which are attached to 

 the lower margin of the barrier, and others are put into nets and suspended by ropes 

 of straw from the floats consisting of bundles of bamboo tied to the upper margin of 

 the net. The leader is about 1,150 feet long and 20 feet high, while the bowl is about 

 350 feet long and 280 feet wide. Two watchmen are always placed on a watchtower 

 to keep a lookout. When the fish enter the bowl along the barrier, a net which is 

 placed at the entrance of the bowl is in the first place drawn up, and the fish are 

 caught in the inner pound by gradually raising up the net of the pound. When, 

 however, they do not enter the bowl directly, the entrance into the pound is closed 

 with another net and the fish are driven into the bowl. 



A double pound net set for tunnies is used in the seas near Sendaiin the northern 

 part of Japan. It consists of a leader and a pouch. The former is about 1,750 feet 

 long and its meshes are about 5 feet; the latter is about 1,740 feet in circumference 

 and its two blind ends form the inner pound. There are five intercepting nets, viz, 

 one at the entrance of the pouch, another on each side of this, and others at the 

 entrance of each inner pound. These nets are usually allowed to hang down; but 

 when the fish enter the pouch they are successively raised and lowered, so that the 

 fish are gradually driven into the inner pound. The whole net is provided with stones 



