120 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



Color. — Dark blue, blue gray, or blue brown above, with silvery sides, belly, 

 and fins, and a strong yellow or brassy luster. There is a conspicuous dusky spot 

 on each side close back of the gill opening; with a varj^ing number of smaller dark 

 spots behind it. 



General range. — Atlantic coast of North America from Nova Scotia to Brazil. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — The Gulf of Maine is the northerly limit of 

 range of the menhaden; St. Mary Bay on the west coast of Nova Scotia is its 

 most easterly outpost. Prior to about 1850 the pogy seems not to have been un- 

 common at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy; it was, indeed, reported by Perley 

 (1852) as far up the bay as St. Jolm, and fishermen spoke of it as abundant near 

 Eastport up to 1845 or 1850. Since then, however, it seems to have abandoned 

 Fundian waters altogether " except for an occasional straggler, and very few 

 menhaden have been noticed east of Mount Desert and Jonesport of late years. 



Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the occurrence of the menhaden in the 

 Gulf of Maine is that it fluctuates tremendously in abundance from year to 

 year, periods of great plenty alternating with periods of scarcity or entire absence 

 from our waters. Thus 1845 was a "big year," while in 1847 pogies were very 

 scarce. Then for some years prior to 1875 they were tremendously abundant off 

 the coasts of Massachusetts and Maine every summer, and a considerable men-, 

 haden fishery grew up on the Maine coast. Since then the local stock has under- 

 gone the most violent fluctuations imaginable, of which abundant testimony is to 

 be found in the files of the Bureau of Fisheries. Thus very few menhaden were 

 taken in the Gulf during the cold summer of 1877 until September and October, 

 when they were reported as about as abundant as normal. Practically none 

 appeared north of Cape Cod in the year 1879, as striking an abandonment of a 

 considerable area by a fish previously abundant there, perhaps, as has taken place 

 within recent times. 



For the next six years menhaden were so scarce along the coast of Maine that 

 when odd ones were picked up in the weirs or were seined it caused cornment (in 

 1883, for instance, a few were reported to the bureau but no schools were seen), 

 and many people thought they had gone for good; but in 1886 they were once more 

 reported abundant off Maine and Massachusetts, while in 1888 they were so plenti- 

 ful as far east as Frenchmans Bay that the menhaden fisheries were revived. 

 Menhaden were as plentiful in Maine waters in 1889 as they had ever been, with 

 more than 10,000,000 pounds taken there, and they were still so numerous in 1890 

 that four fertilizer factories were established and nearlj^ 90,000,000 fish were taken 

 during the season. This period of abundance was short-lived, however, less than 

 half as many fish being caught in Maine waters (about 41,000,000) in 1891 as in 

 1890, while few menhaden were taken or seen north of Cape Cod in 1892. In 1894, 

 however, the fish were once more sufficiently abundant in the Gulf of Maine for a 

 single steamer to seine about 1,000,000 fish off the Kennebec during July and the 

 first weeks of August, and 582,131 fish were taken in Boston Harbor in 10 days' 

 fishing during the last half of that month. 



" According to Huntsman (1922a) one was taken in St. John Uarbor in .\ugust, 1919. 



