346 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



SUMMARY. 



Number of vessels engaged in Gulf mackerel-fishery 58 



Total number of tons burden 4, 593 



Average number of tons burden 79 



Total number of men employed 93-"* 



Average number of men to each vessel 16 



Number of trips mado f* 



Number of men employed 1. 0;° 



Total number of weeks employed « 56 



Average number of weeks each trip (nearly) 12 



Total number of barrels of mackerel taken 15,299 



Value of mackerel taken $86, 852 



Avei ago number of barrels of mackerel taken each trip 239 



Value of mackerel taken each trip $ 1, ? 57 "^a 



Average amount each man received $84.48 



Number of barrels taken within 3-mile limit 3, 138 



Value of mackerel taken within 3-mile limit - $18, 081 



Average number of barrels of mackerel taken within 3-mile limit each trip 47 



Value of mackerel taken within 3-mile limit each trip $282. 51 



Number of trips on which an estimated loss has been rendered 36 



Estimated loss on the 30 trips ? 101,5 !}2 



Average estimated loss $2. 819, 44 



Average estimated loss each man $175. 30 



Number of fares taken on shoves on return home ? 



Total number of barrels of mackerel of the 7 fares '3, 537 



Average number of barrels of mackerel 50o 



Number reported the mackerel-fishery of the Gulf as of no value 13 



*Ono vessel took full fare ; no figures given. 



1 180 barrels were taken off Cape Sable, just before entering the Gulf. 



The relation of fish to sewage. — Mr. Charles J. Alger, of Bur- 

 liDgton, Vt.j under date of March 8, 1885, states that in endeavoring to 

 enlarge the water supply of that city, a point about 1,500 feet off shore 

 in Lake Chaniplain was selected from which to draw the supply. It 

 was found that a large number of smelts gathered there during the 

 winter months, and the question is raised whether there may not be a 

 current of sewage or of other impurities, which induces the fish to con- 

 gregate. The place is located near the end of a breakwater. 



Salmon in the Connecticut. — Mr. E. G. Blackford, of Fulton 

 Market, writing under date of May 16, 1885, says: "I received yester- 

 day one salmon, caught at Saybrook, on the Connecticut Biver, weigh- 

 ing 18£ pounds." 



Sea-lion investigation. — Mr. Joseph D. Bedding, one of the Cali- 

 fornia fish commissioners, writes, August 11, 1885, that he has invited 

 Dr. H. W. Harkness, Dr. H. H. Behr, and Mr. Adolph Sutro to inves- 

 tigate and report upon this question. The sea-lions occupy the bays 

 and coast near San Francisco in countless thousands. They are very 

 voracious, and it is alleged that they destroy hundreds of thousands of 

 pounds of edible fish daily. The fishermen declare that their business 

 is rapidly declining from this cause. Their curious manner of living 

 upon the rocks about the Golden Gate, renders the sea-lions one of 

 the curiosities of the Pacific coast. It may be thought best to protect 

 them within a national reservation rather than to try to exterminate 

 them. Mr. Bedding intends to present an exhaustive report to the 

 California legislature and to the U. S. Fish Commission. 



Carp for Mexico.— On March 14, 1885, the Fish Commission rep- 

 resentative at New Orleans delivered to Dr. Barroeta a pail of twenty- 

 five carp, to be taken by him to Mexico, the smallest and strongest 

 carp of the different varieties being selected. 



