COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 31 



ties. By May 10th the empounding had begun and the large catches 

 continued until about June 5th. Three weeks later, June 25th, the 

 "run" had ended and the traps were being taken up. (See Table 

 VIII for a record of the run of scup for the past five years.) 



Mackerel {Scomber scombrus). — Mackerel appeared on our 

 shore this past year about two weeks later than usual. The first 

 ones were caught in Rhode Island on May 7th. On May 14th a 

 very large catch of mackerel was made near Block Island. May 

 26th however was the record day for shipments from Newport. 

 One boat alone brought in 20,000. The season's catch while about 

 normal was considerably below that of 1914 as the catch in that year 

 was abnormally large. The period of greatest abundance was from 

 May 14th to June 16th. On this latter date tinker mackerel 

 appeared. (See Table IX for a record of the run of mackerel for 

 the past five years.) 



Butterfish (Poronotus tricanthus). — April 19th a single large 

 specimen, the first catch of the season was taken off Third Beach, 

 Newport. Butterfish were quite plentiful throughout the summer 

 and late in the fall some unusually large catches were made well up 

 the Bay. 



Striped Bass (Roccus lineatus) were first taken on April 29th, 

 near Price's Neck. Occasional good catches were made throughout 

 the summer, but the total amount was under normal. 



Sea Robins (Pr'ionotus Carolinus) were first displayed in the 

 markets on April 13th. The catch after this increased steadily, but 

 the amount was never large. 



Four tuna, the first of the season, were caught off Price's Neck on 

 June 28th. 



The first reported catch of the various marketable fish in the traps 

 off Newport is given in Table X. 



