180 REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 



Season of 1908. 



Scup. The first scup was reported by Guy Avalone from Coddington Cove on 

 April twenty-third. Later in the day two more were caught off Coggeshall's 

 Ledge. April twenty-seventh the catch was reported by the barrel, and on the 

 twenty-ninth the " run " began. June third the catches commenced to decrease, 

 and by June ninth the shipping was mostly from the pounds. Scup were very 

 abundant this year, especially in the Bay, where more scup were caught than for 

 many years. 



Two heavy storms (one on May eighth and the other on May thirtieth) were 

 very disastrous to the fishermen. It has been estimated that, besides a great 

 deal of damage to the gear, 5,000 barrels of fish were lost in the latter storm. 



Mackerel. The first mackerel of the season was caught April twenty-seventh. 

 The customary occasional catches were made until May fourteenth, when 216 

 were brought in. There was a steady increase until May twenty-fifth, when 

 400 mackerel were brought in in one day. From this time on there was good 

 average fishing until July first. The record day was June twentieth, when 86,000 

 mackerel were brought in. The first "tinker" was caught May twenty-seventh. 



Other Fish. Striped bass were first caught on April twenty-fourth, sea robins 

 on April twenty-fifth, and squid on April twenty-fifth. 



Squiteague. Two squiteague were landed on May seventh, and about a month 

 later, on June sixth, the first barrel was caught. The squiteague season opened 

 June eleventh. 



The first horse mackerel were caught the twenty-fifth of June. 



Season of 1909. 



Scup. Several scup were caught off Watch Hill April 19-20. April twenty- 

 first one was taken off Seal Rock. The scup season really began on May first 

 and closed about June fourteenth. May tenth the scup were very abundant. 



Mackerel. April second two mackerel were caught, the first of the season. 

 May fourth, 42 barrels were shipped from Newport. The first big catch of 

 mackerel was on May sixteenth, when 500 barrels were caught. May twenty- 

 fourth nearly 2,000 barrels were landed at Newport, and from this time on until 

 the end of June there was good fishing. 



June seventeenth, "tinkers" first appeared. 



Other Fish. Butter-fish appeared April twenty-first and were aI>out as 

 abundant as usual. 



Striped bass also appeared on April twenty-first. 



A few very large squiteague were caught May nineteenth. The run began 

 June seventeenth, when 15 Imrrels were taken. 



