118 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA 



Hyde, and Beaufort counties taking the remainder. They are taken by troll 

 lines, hand lines, and pound nets. 



BLUEFISH 



Pomatomus saltatrix (Linnaeus) 



The bluefish is found along the entire Atlantic coast of the United States 

 from the Gulf of Maine southward, including the Gulf of Mexico. It is not 

 restricted to our coast, however. According to Goode (Sec. i. Text, 1884), 

 it is also found in waters of Australia, Malay Archipelago, Cape of Good 

 Hope, Brazil, Madagascar, Syria, Canary Islands, and in the Mediterranean. 

 It apparently does not occur along the Atlantic coast of Europe, nor in 

 Bermuda or the West Indies waters, but it occurs in commercial quantities 

 off Uruguay and Argentina, from which it has been imported to the United 

 States. The species is migratory, and its abundance in a given area is sporadic. 



It is also known to disappear from certain waters for protracted periods. 

 Such was the case in New England during the period 1 764-1810 when no 

 bluefish were taken. According to Goode {loc. cit., 1884), bluefish were 

 common in New England in 1672 and were abundant in Nantucket waters 

 from 1659 to 1763. They did not appear in 1764 and were entirely absent 

 from New England waters until 1810, when small numbers returned to New 

 York and southern New England. They were abundant in these waters by 

 1825. According to Bigelow and Welsh (1925), they did not return to Cape 

 Cod and northern Massachusetts until 1837 or 1838. From 1850 to the late 

 i86o's they were abundant at Gloucester. Their numbers then began decreas- 

 ing, and since 1889 the species has remained scarce. 



The history of this species in North Carolina waters is not clear. Smith 

 (1907) quotes Lawson (1709) as saying that they appeared in the fall in 

 great schools on the coast and were taken by the Hatteras Indians. However, 

 Goode {loc. cit., 1884) quotes R. E. Earll as saying that the bluefish was first 

 known in the Hatteras area in 1842, that it reached a peak between 1870 and 

 1876, and that from 1877 to 1880, they were much less abundant and of 

 smaller size. Their history between 1709 and 1842, therefore, is unknown, 

 but this account does bear out their erratic movements and fluctuations in 

 abundance. 



Very little is known of the spawning of the bluefish. It is generally agreed 

 that they spawn offshore in early summer. A few fish in "ripe" condition have 

 been taken in early June, but spawning fish have not been observed. However, 

 young fish about three inches in length enter the sounds in June and July. 

 This fact substantiates the belief in the early-summer spawning period. The 

 young, as well as the adults, travel in schools of a particular size group. The 

 larger fish remain in the deeper waters while the smaller ones enter the shal- 



