274 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



In connection with first catches of mackerel by the schooners off our 

 southern coast, it may not be out of place to allude to the fact that many 

 individuals of this species were found in the stomachs of cod taken off the 

 Kew Jersey coast several weeks before the commencement of the mackerel 

 seining season. Capt. F. M. Redmond, master of smack Josie Reeves, 

 •of New York, who for many years has been engaged in the winter cod 

 fishery, says that nearly every spring, for the past six or seven years, 

 he has found mackerel, both large and small, in the stomachs of cod two 

 or three weeks before the capture of any mackerel by seiners. He 

 states further that in the latter part of February, 1882, he found a great 

 many mackerel inside the cod which he took 10 or 12 miles off Egg 

 Harbor, oST. J., in 12 to 15 fathoms of water. Nov, according to the 

 same authority, was it an uncommon occurrence to find from 15 to 25 

 mackerel in the bottom of each dory, these fish having been thrown out 

 by the cod with which the boats had been loaded. Captain Redmond 

 also says that frequently menhaden are found in the stomachs of cod- 

 fish several weeks before the former are seen in schools off the coast. 

 In nearly every instance these expectorated fish, menhaden or mack- 

 erel, were in a perfectly fresh condition, which would indicate that 

 they had been swallowed but a short time. Whether these mack- 

 erel had been eaten by the cod at some distance from the coast or on 

 their regular feeding grounds, where the cod are caught, is a question 

 which must be settled by future investigations. It seems only reason- 

 able, however, to suppose, as above stated, that the mackerel had been 

 swallowed but a short time, as otherwise they would, when thrown up, 

 have been in a very decomposed state. We are, from these facts, led 



April 25. — Schooner John Somes, of Swan's Island, Me., Capt. J. S. Staples, master, 

 caught her first mackerel 50 miles southeast from Cape May. 



EARLY CATCHES OF MACKEREL IN 1879. 



April 12. — Schooner Sarah M. Jacobs, of Gloucester, caught first mackerel in lati- 

 tude 36° 35' N., longitude 74° 50' W. 



April 13. — Schooner Augusta E. Herrick, of Swan's Island, Me., Capt. William 

 Hcrrick, caught first mackerel (130 barrels) in latitude 37° 37' N., longitude 74° 23' W. 



April 13. — A few fish taken by schooner S. G. Wonsou, of Gloucester, 75 miles south- 

 southeast from Cape Henlopen. 



April 14. — Schooner Charles Haskell, of Gloucester, caught first mackerel in latitudo 

 38° 8' N., longitude 73° 57' W. 



April 10. — Schooner Alice, of Swan's Island, Me., caught first mackerel (140 barrels) 

 in latitude 37° 50' N., longitude 74° 3' W. 



EARLY CATCHES OF MACKEREL IN 1880. 



April 1. — Schooner Edward E. Webster, of Gloucester, Capt. Solomon Jacobs, caught 

 the first mackerel of the season in latitudo 35° 30' N., longitude 74° 15' W. • 



EARLY CATCHES OF MACKEREL IN 1881. 



March 20. — Schooner Edward E. Webster, of Gloucester, caught the first fish of the 

 son, and the earliest on record, in latitude 37° 10' N., longitude 71 5' W. A 

 6econd fare was caught by the same vessel on April 18, in latitude 38° 38' N., longitude 

 74° W. 



