BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 405 



menhaden this season. Last year that fishery was a total failure north 

 of Cape Cod. As we went about the harbor yesterday I noticed innu- 

 merable little red specks such as young fish feed upon, floating^ near the 

 surface, the first I have seen this year. I find that I was mistaken in say- 

 ing that the squid at Hyannis are caught in gill-nets, for they are taken 

 in weirs and traps, the netting being from 2 to 3 inches mesh. — May 21, 

 1880. 



Catching squid off- Cape Breton. — Capt. Chas. Dagle, schooner 

 Joseph Story, and Capt. David Melanson, schooner Crest of the Wave, 

 exjiect to leave here about June 7 on a squidding trip to Cape Breton 

 and Saint Peter's. They propose to get squid near Saint Ann's, Cape 

 Breton, and to sell them at Saint Peter's. They specially request me 

 to write to Washington and inquire whether they have the right to 

 catch the squid by setting a trap or weir from the vessel ; no leaders to 

 run from the shore, but an ordinary trap with leaders from the vessel 

 would be used in the harbors of Cape Breton. Af=, last year vessels 

 were prevented from seining squid, they dare not try that method 

 again, but wish to know whether traps will be allowed. They are afraid 

 to try even this method unless they can get special word from Wash- 

 ington defining their rights or granting them permission. For the pur- 

 chase of squid from the natives both time and money are required, for 

 the squid are then taken by jigs, and sometimes unreasonable prices 

 charged. By using traps often large numbers of squid are taken in a 

 short time and at little expense. — May 28, 1880. 



Squid off Cape Breton. — Your letter concerning the capture of 

 squid in traps was received yesterday and read to Captains Dagle and 

 Melanson, whom I advised to write to Secretary Evarts through Cap- 

 tain Babson. Captain Dagle informs me that the natives at Cape Bre- 

 ton capture squid with jigs only because they cannot afibrd traps or 

 seine, being dependent almost entirely on the sales of the squid, &c., 

 to fishermen. Captain Babson wrote to Secretary Evarts some time 

 ago, asking for definite instructions to be given the fishermen, but has 

 received no reply. Our fishermen are anxiously waiting for decided ac- 

 tion, that they may know what course to pursue. There are iudications 

 .that the mackerel will this season work eastward, some think into the 

 bay of Saint Lawrence, in which case trouble might ensue. I informed 

 Professor Yerrill of the appearance of squid on the coast, and he ob- 

 tained some from Wood's Holl; and on Friday last I sent him twenty- 

 five from here on ice, taken in the trap at Kettle Island. 



Mackerel from the South Pacific. — I received yesterday two 

 salt mackerel from the South Pacific Ocean, near the coast of Chili, 

 brought by bark Silas Fish, now at New York and soon to make another 

 voyage to the same region. Mate E. A. Hooper, of the bark, states that 

 the mackerel strike along the coast of Chili in November and continue 

 till spring, working to the southward. The natives do not consider the 

 fish eatable. — June 2, 1880. 



