CONSERVATION OF THE MACKEREL SUPPLY. 825 



In September, 1675, the fishermen of Kinsale, smarting under 

 the continued absence of mackerel " from their shore . . . until 

 the harvest time " for two seasons, held a meeting at which it was 

 concluded and resolved that " the enormous nets of the French- 

 men" broke the shoals "and the mackerel became frightened and 

 sought other grounds." Thereupon they petitioned the king, 

 through Secretary Burchard, . . . that "a fleet of three hundred 

 sail of French have for many months, in this season, beleaguered 

 our coast. They have nets, each of them half a league in length. 

 And they fish/bwr our mackerel and pilchards to such a degree 

 that our nets can not catch any more." The petition then goes on 

 to state that " in consequence of the great length of the nets " (of 

 the Frenchmen) " the shoals are broken and the mackerel refuse to 

 come again in that way." This petition was drawn up and signed 

 in Kinsale in September, 1675, and it goes to prove that so far 

 back as the seventeenth century the mackerel frequented the same 

 " grounds " that they do to-day ; and that for the same reason as 

 they did in 1883, they resented the interference of the French- 

 men at a too early period in their migration toward the spawning 

 ground and disappeared from the coast at this 'point. That they 

 were captured late in the season is told in the following quota- 

 tion, dated September 7, 1675: "Notwithstanding that the mack- 

 erel disappeared from this coast in the spring, because of the dep- 

 redations of the French, they have turned up again in enormous 

 numbers and fat at their old haunts outside the Old Head to 

 the westward." 



This proves my original statement that mackerel have a dis- 

 tinct and permanent spawning ground ; and it is a strong weapon 

 in my assertion that want of knowledge of the habits of the fish 

 is solely responsible for its scarcity either in this or in the Irish 

 market. 



But it is needless to prolong this argument. It is established 

 without question that the habits and instincts of mackerel are the 

 same that they were three hundred years ago, and that during all 

 these years they sought the same spawning grounds and resented 

 interference with their progress toward them by making a detour. 

 In this detour lies the secret of the erroneous idea that "the 

 mackerel are leaving the coast." They are not. They will reach 

 their spawning grounds, no matter how far they swim ; and, when 

 they are near to them, nets, of whatever construction, can not de- 

 ter their progress. 



The moral of this is simple. To me it is as plain as the sun 

 at noon. It is this : If we wish to capture mackerel, we must do 

 it in season. Nature sends them to us then, and we should profit 

 by their approach ; but we must not use unnatural methods or 

 times to reap the harvest. 



