BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 89 



no doubt that they ofteu attacked the latter ; at least they would often 

 fasten ou to a mackerel that was being hauled in on a jig. This we 

 were able to see, as the fish came to the water's surface, but we could, 

 of course, only surmise what the squid might do deeper down, when 

 they were out of our sight." 



I notice in the Cape Ann Advertiser of yesterday, the following, which 

 is corroborative of the above: 



"The mackerel fleet, some fifteen sail, which hoped to intercept the 

 mackerel schools along the Cape shore, as they came out of the Bay of 

 Saint Lawrence, and thus secure late fares, have been disappointed, as 

 the mackerel have been destroyed by the immense schools of squid which 

 infest that shore." 



May there not be in this a possible solution of the scarcity of mack- 

 erel some seasons as compared with other years immediately preced- 

 ing? 



Abundance of scallops. — Mr. Elisha Slade, of Somerset, Mass., 

 under" date -of December 12, 1884, sends the following note, which he 

 regards of considerable local interest: 



"During the autumn of 1884, scallops (Peden irradians) were very 

 abundant in this vicinity, and dredging was carried to greater extent 

 than in any previous year. From information gathered at different 

 times, from what I suppose to be reliable source^, about 40,000 bushels 

 have been taken from the Taunton River and the head of Mount Hope 

 Bay, into which Taunton River empties. Scallops have been plenty in 

 former years, but nothing like this amount has been caught in any one 

 season; at least I find no record nor tradition to compare with it. The 

 greater part of the fishing was performed between September 20, and 

 November 20." 



Hake in-Naniicoke River. — Mr. E. W. Humphreys, Maryland 

 commissioner of fisheries, writing from Salisbury, December 6, 1884, 

 says : 



" Small hake, averaging in length 10 to 15 inches, have been taken 

 in Nanticoke River during the last few weeks. Several hundred were 

 caught in pound-nets by fishermen near Vienna, Dorchester County. 

 The water has been quite salt well up the river on account of the ex- 

 treme drought which prevailed during the summer and early fall. The 

 fishermen say that the hake has never before been taken in the Mary- 

 land rivers." 



Norwegian halibut fisheries. — Under date of Washington, No- 

 vember 27, 1884, Capt. J. W. Collins says: 



" The following replies of Capt. Niels Juel, of Bergen, Norway, to 

 inquiries I made relative to the occurrence of halibut in the waters of 

 Northern Europe, particularly on the west coast of Norway, seem to be 

 of special interest just now. The success of our fishermen last summer, 



