REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 45 



adapted to different temperature conditions. This is consistent 

 with the investigations to be mentioned later, which apparently 

 establish the existence of local races. 



On the American side of the Atlantic the mackerel first appear 

 off Cape Hatteras, usually between March 20 and April 25. Their 

 appearance at other places along the coast takes place at about the 

 following dates: " Off Norfolk, Va., March _20 to April 30; off the 

 Capes of Delaware, April 15 to May 1; off Barnegat and ^andy 

 Hook, May 5 to May 25; and at the same date along the whole 

 southern coast of New England and as far east as Nova Scotia, while 

 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence they appear late in May and in abund- 

 ance early in June."* Stragglers often appear at dates much earlier 

 than those given above. 



The mackerel remain in northern waters during the summer; they 

 are most abundant in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Bay of Fundy 

 in July and August. In September and October they remain plenti- 

 ful along the New England coast and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence; 

 they finally disappear from the northern coasts in November. 

 They have been observed to leave the Gulf of St. Lawrence in large 

 schools, passing out by the same routes by which they entered, i. e., 

 around the north of Cape Breton Island or through the Straits of 

 Canso. In two instances the schools have been followed along the 

 south shores of Nova Scotia, past the coasts of Maine and Massa- 

 chusetts, as far as Cape Cod and Nantucket Shoals. t After the 

 departure of the mackerel in the autumn, they remain absent from 

 the coast until the arrival of the spring schools of the next year. 

 Sporadic cases have been reported, however, of the capture of 

 scattering individuals in northern waters in the winter. J In 1906 

 such a specimen was presented to the Rhode Island Fish Commis- 

 sion 'by J. T. Fearney & Son, of Providence; it was taken in Narra- 

 gansett Bay, near Saunderstown, on January 30. The winter of 

 that year was exceptionally warm. 



* Goode, Report, U. S. Fish Com., 1881 



tCoUins, J. W., Report U. S. Fish Com., 1881, 121. 



J Report. U. S. Fish Com., 1881, 97. 



