BULLETIN OF THE UXITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 133 



Barrels to-day are wortli $1.10 apiece. The inspection this year is $1.60 

 a barrel. If mackerel hold plenty, barrels will be worth $1.25 apiece in 

 a week. The George's fishing fleet report plenty of mackerel on George's. 

 Yesterday there were 50 sail of vessels at the wharves landing fish and 

 mackerel. This morning there were 45 sail, mostly mackerel catchers, 

 in the harl)ors for shelter. There was a fresh breeze, with rain, thun- 

 der, and lightning. 



Your obedient servant, 



S. J. MAETIK 

 Prof. Spencer F. Bated, 



United States Commission Fish and Fisheries, 



Wood's HoU, Barnstable County, Massachusetts. 



NOTES OIV THEW EIVOf^AIVD FISHERIES. 



By S. J. MARTIIV. 



[From a letter to Prof. S. F. Baiid, United States Fish Commissioner.] 



Gloucester, Mass., August 8, 1881. 



Dear Professor: The harbor this morning is alive with schooling: 

 mackerel, and 20 barrels of good quality, mostly twos and a few ones, 

 were taken in the nets last night. The boys have great sport catching 

 mackerel off the wharves. Bluefish are plenty oii" the mouth of the har- 

 bor, and I think they drove the mackerel in. There are some squid in 

 the harbor. 



The mackerel catchers have not done well during the last fortnight. 

 The weather has been so foggy that they had to lie in the harbors eight 

 days. Close to the shore the fog is not so thick, and here all the mack- 

 erel that have been caught were taken. Mackerel are found from Cape 

 Cod to Mount Desert. There are 1,800 barrels of them on board vessels 

 in the harbor this morning. The schooner Fleet Wing has 80 barrels of 

 very large Block Island mackerel, worth $25 a barrel. Mackerel sold 

 to-day at the low figure of $4 a barrel, with the barrel. 



A new school of codfish has come on the western j)art of George's. 

 The fish are the largest I have ever seen at this time of the year. I 

 think they are a squid school, for when a fish is hauled up three or four 

 squid will be found in it. Squid are plenty in Barnstable Bay. One 

 vessel took 10 barrels there. A vessel came in from George's with 1,100 

 cod, which weighed 18,000 jiounds split. The vessel which took 16 bar- 

 rels of squid caught 21,000 pounds of cod in four days on the western 

 part of George's. Some vessels have taken good trips on the eastern 

 part of George's. The fish, however, are not so large. 



I am glad some one has gone into the dogfish business. A steamer 

 and a schooner are catching them at Booth Bay, Maine, and selling 

 them to the factory at $1 a hundred fish. Dogfish are very j)lenty all 

 along the coast. Some vessels come in with the whole bottom eaten out 

 of the seine and the pocket. 



