BULLETIN OF THE rED STATES F1«H COMMISSION. 167 



one trip. The mackerel fleet now numbers 184 vessels, of which 102 

 are from Gloucester; dining the next two months it will be largely in- 

 creased. The fleet has worked north slowly, the result being very un- 

 satisfactory. 



Mackerel. — From the taking of the first mackerel, on March 20, to 

 the latter part of April, the catch was confined to a few vessels, the fish 

 of medium and small size, quality poor, and marketed fresh at low 

 prices. On April 23 and 24, in longitude 74° to 75°, latitude 37° to 

 38 u , the fleet found mackerel in great abundance, and over 100 sail 

 secured fares. On April 25, 26, and 27, 93 sail arrived at New York 

 and 14 at Philadelphia, with from 100 to 300 barrels each, the aggre- 

 gate amount landed at New York from Saturday to Monday noon 

 being estimated at 11,000,000 fresh mackerel and 500 barrels of sea- 

 packed. This is by far the largest amount of fresh mackerel on record 

 as having been landed at any one port in so short a time. This immense 

 amouut, arriving at once, overstocked the market; prices quickly fell 

 from $2 to $6 a hundred, to 50 cents to $2 a thousand fish; large quanti- 

 ties were given and thrown away. The salt mackerel, being of poor 

 quality, sold at from 62.25 to $2.75 a barrel, in all cases the fishermen 

 realizing very little from the catch. 



The fish averaged 90 per cent, from 10 to 12 inches in length, the 

 remainder from 12£ to 14 inches, and give promise of good fish later in 

 the season, a decided improvement in size over that of last year. The 

 mackerel were quite well tilled with the fine red food called by the 

 fishermen "cayenne." 



The following from the Fishing Gazette, of New York, gives some in- 

 teresting items connected with the great catch: 



ik A sight was witnessed in our market on Monday morning last that 

 is without a parallel in the history of the fishing business. One huh 

 dred sail of mackerel vessels were in port, either unloading or waiting 

 for an opportunity to do so. The slip at Fulton Market has a capacity 

 for only forty sail, and the vessels of the fleet were obliged to seek 

 wharfage wherever it could be obtained, and all along the East River 

 docks, around Washington Market and the docks of the North River, 

 at docks in Brooklyn, the vessels were unloading. A close estimate made 

 from the actual catch of a number of vessels warrants the statement 

 that there were from eight to ten millions of fish either in process of 

 unloading or waiting to unload. The greater portion of these fish were 

 caught about 120 miles southwest of Barnegat, and were supposed to 

 have formed one immense school. So numerous were the fish that in. 

 several instances single hauls of the seine netted 250 barrels; the Mollie 

 Adams, Captain Jacobs, brought in 400 barrels taken in four hauls. This 

 enormous supply of course ran prices down to almost nothing, the fish 

 being sold at from 50 cents to a dollar per thousand; it also affected 

 the price of all kinds of fish, and the cry was 'Down, down.' 



"The Elizabeth M. Smith, Captain Black, in making a haul for mack- 



