BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 175 



weirs in the harbor, and 220 barrels of herring were caught among the 

 mackerel in seines. 

 Gloucester, Mass., July 1, 1883. 



I will give a few notes on mackerel: On June 24 large mackerel were 

 plentiful on Cashe's Bank. They lasted for two days there, then they 

 disappeared and have not been seen there since. The vessels which 

 were on Cashe's did well, some of them catching as much as 200 barrels 

 in the two days. Small mackerel came along the coast, from Cape Cod 

 to the Bay of Fundy, about June 30. They are numerous but very small, 

 averaging about 6 inches long. On July 2 a school of large ones ap- 

 peared in Boston Bay. The traps at Kettle Island and Gloucester 

 caught 200 barrels of them, but after one night they disappeared. Ten 

 vessels have gone to the Bay of Saint Lawrence after mackerel, though 

 no mackerel of any account have been caught there yet. One vessel 

 was there a fortnight and caught none. I think mackerel will be caught 

 soon on our coast. The harbor here was full of small mackerel which 

 were schooling. 



Gloucester, Mass., July 8, 1883. 



On July 5 and 6 a school of small mackerel was in the harbor. The 

 weirs, eight in number, caught 500 barrels, 1,200 fish to a barrel. On 

 the 13th and 14th a school of still smaller mackerel came into the har- 

 bor. It takes 2,000 of these fish for a barrel. The weirs in the harbor 

 to-day have an average catch of 50 barrels. There are 4 barrels of large 

 mackerel to 50 barrels of the remainder. 



James Tarr & Bros, bought all the mackerel in the weirs at $1 a bar- 

 rel. They intend to salt them round, as they do herring, for an experi- 

 ment, and try to find a market for them. 



Large mackerel are scarce, and the vessels are doing poorly. Fifteen 

 sail have gone to the Bay of Saint Lawrence after mackerel, but the 

 news from the bay is not favorable. Small mackerel are plentiful from 

 Cape Cod to the Bay of Fundy, inshore as well as offshore. It seems 

 too bad to kill them. The vessels set their seines around a school of 

 mackerel and catch perhaps 100 barrels. They then pick out 10 barrels 

 of them and throw the rest overboard. Some vessels which had been 

 gone four weeks returned with but 40 barrels. 



The mackerel fleet is spread along the eastern shore from Cape Cod 

 to Cape Sable, and they report nothiug but small mackerel. At Kettle 

 Island, Manchester, and Gloucester, within a distance of 10 miles, there 

 are 17 Aveirs set. This morning they averaged 50 barrels of small mack- 

 erel apiece, and some of the weirs were very full. 



Gloucester, Mass., July 15, 1883. 



The vessels which went to George's Bank for cod have done well. A 

 large school of cod has been on the western part of this bank. The 

 fishermen call this the " squid " school, because the fish are full of squid 



