BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 431 



aOS WOTE!!t OIV THK SCOTCH HERRllVG FISHERIElil. 



By T. F. ROBEKTSON CARK. 



[From a letter to Capt. J. W. Collins.] 



The bcrriug fishing is now iu full swing; there never before were 

 known snch takes. Fancy 4,000 crans of herrings thrown into Frazer- 

 bnrg bay. The prices were very low this last week, in fact will not pay 

 the wear and tear of gear. One thing that is operating very impe- 

 riously against the fishing is that a great many fishermen iu the north 

 use a very small meshed uet. They go 35 to 50 miles off" to meet the 

 shoals, and in most cases tow in. This is at the beginning of the sea- 

 son. The fish are then too oily, not fit to cure for the continental 

 market, and, in short, they are perfect rubbish. The English markets 

 have been packed with this stuff", selling ut 12 for a penny. Now, when 

 the fine, large, matured herring go into the market, the buyers object 

 to giviug a decent price for them. They have got up a cholera scare, 

 so, for these two reasons, fishermen and all concerned in the herring 

 business are having a hard time of it. 



Bekwick-on-Tweed, England, August 11, 1884. 



309.-POKPOISE-FI^miVO AT CAPE MAY, IVEW JERSEY. 



By FREDERICK W. TRUE. 



Curator of Mammals, U. S. National Museum. 



Having received an invitation from the officers of the Cape May Por- 

 poise Oil and Fishing Company to inspect their operations, I visited the 

 locality in middle of the present month. My assistant and myself re- 

 ceived all possible courtesy during our visit, and I would here renew 

 the thanks which I offered verbally to the president of the above-named 

 company. 



The species of porpoise captured is known to science as Tursiops tur- 

 sio, and although, so far as I could ascertain, our fishermen have no 

 common name for it, it may, at least for the present, be designated in 

 English as the Bottle-nose dolphin. It reaches a length of 10 or 11 feet 

 when full-grown. The color of the back and pectoral and dorsal fins is 

 a gray of greatest or less depth, while the belly is pure white. The 

 beak is rather short and stout, and there are forty-four or forty-six teeth 

 in each jaw. The species is one of the commonest in the North Atlantic, 

 occurring both on our coasts and those of Europe in great abundance. 



The company was organized early in the present year principally by 

 gentlemen of Cape May City. Although the capital invested is con- 



