FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



329 



Mackerel contrast in an interesting way with 

 herring in this respect, the latter being caught in by 

 far the greatest numbers in the northeastern corner 

 of the Gulf, i. e., just where there usually are 

 fewest mackerel. But there is much variation 

 from year to year in their relative abundance from 

 place to place as appears from the following table 

 of catches, made in two successive years when the 

 total landings from the Gulf, as a whole, did not 

 differ greatly (landings at Boston, Gloucester, and 

 Portland by the vessel fishery, stated in pounds). 



Fishing grounds 1916 1917 



Georges Bank 3,701,597 624,086 



South Channel 77, 157 13, 600 



Nantucket Shoals 2,516,414 6,277,830 



Off Chatham 2,017,753 3,938,452 



Off Race Point 99,250 621,751 



Stellwagen Bank 1,559,972 519,550 



In some years few mackerel are seen at the sur- 

 face in the Gulf eastward of the Isles of Shoals, 

 1926, 1927, 1933, 1934, and 1935 were examples. 

 In other years, however (e. g., in 1928, 1929, 1930, 

 1931, and 1932) many schools are sighted and 

 seined along the coast of Maine as far eastward as 

 the vicinity of Mount Desert Rock (see fig. 176, 

 based on Sette's painstaking analysis). But the 

 experiences of the old time hook-and-line fishermen 

 suggest that the mackerel tend to move north- 

 ward and eastward in general from the Massachu- 

 setts Bay region, for they made their best late- 

 summer and early-fall catches between Cape Eliz- 

 abeth and Mount Desert Rock in most years, 

 notably about Monhegan Island. And the results 

 of hook-and-line fishing are a far better clue to the 

 presence or absence of mackerel than the seine 

 catches are, since they draw from the fish that 

 are deep down, as well as from those that may 

 chance to be at the surface. 



The Nova Scotian side of the Bay of Fundy has 

 been a profitable mackerel ground, occasionally, 

 but only for short periods and at long intervals. 

 Thus good catches were made there for some years 

 previous to 1876, but this fishery was abandoned 

 a few years later for want of mackerel. There 

 were enough fish there again in the early 1900's 

 to yield about 7 million pounds in the 6-year pe- 

 riod 1901 to 1906. 58 But we have not heard of any 

 large catches made anywhere in the Bay of Fundy 

 since that time, so events of the sort must be out 

 of the ordinary. And very few mackerel are ever 



- Sette and Needier, Inv. Rept. 19, U. S. Bur. Fish., 1934, pp. 1-48. 



reported along the New Brunswick side of the 

 Bay. 



In most years, mackerel are few over the central 

 deeps of the Gulf (fig. 176), but a year comes now 

 and then when they are plentiful there, as hap- 

 pened in 1882 (a year of great abundance), when 

 great numbers were caught between Georges 

 Bank, Browns Bank, and Cashes Ledge, and 

 thence northward to within 40 miles or so of the 

 Maine coast. Most of the early season catch, in 

 fact, was made in this deep water region that year, 

 and in the weirs along the west coast of Nova 

 Scotia. But the fish disappeared thence later in 

 the season. And large catches have never been 

 reported from the eastern part of Georges Bank 

 to our knowledge. 



Figure 176. — Average distribution of mackerel in the 

 Gulf of Maine, July through September, based on 

 relative frequencies of catches recorded for each 10- 

 mile rectangle, 1926 through 1935. After Sette. 



As a rule, the schools tend to stay nearer the 

 coast in years when small (i. e., young) fish dom- 

 inate the population. The entire Gulf of Maine 

 catch, for example, was taken within 45 miles of 



