10 REPORT ON THE PRESENT STATE OF KNOWLEDGE 



A comparative study of the Board of Trade statistics for England 

 and Wales has, however, proved of service, whilst the tables compiled 

 by the Irish Inspectors are of value, principally in showing the 

 fluctuations of the fishery in that country from year to year. By 

 far the most satisfactory statistics are those which are now being 

 published by the French authorities, but in their present complete 

 form these only date from the end of the year 1895. For the two 

 years previous to this valuable notes, giving statistics for some of 

 the more important ports, appeared from month to month in the 

 Bulletin des PSches Maritimcs, and these have been of considerable 

 use. Sars* gives much reliable information about the Norwegian 

 mackerel fisheries, and Marion and Gourrett about those of the 

 Mediterranean coast of France. A considerable amount of information 

 as to the mackerel fishery on the American coast is contained in the 

 Reports and Bulletins of the United States Fish Commission, and 

 these have here been freely made use of. 



From the above sources a number of tables have been constructed, 

 which give an insight into the distribution of the mackerel fisheries at 

 different times of the year. In considering the information in these 

 tables it must be constantly borne in mind that the figures represent 

 the quantities of fish landed in particular districts or at particular ports. 

 In the absence of definite information as to where the fish were caught, 

 and also of the number and fishing power of the boats employed in the 

 fishery, great care must be exercised in drawing conclusions from them 

 as to the relative abundance of fish in different localities. They are 

 of more use in living an idea of the abundance of fish in the same 

 locality at different times of the year. 



Table I,, which is to a large extent an arbitrary compilation, based, 

 however, where possible on the statistical tables which follow, shows at 

 what times of the year mackerel are present at the places mentioned, 

 and during which months they are taken in the largest quantities at 

 each place. Numbers from to 5 are used to indicate the relative 

 abundance; but the series is independent for each place, the figure 5 

 representing the maximum for the year at the place referred to. Thus 

 the figure 5 stands opposite the month of May for both the south-west 

 of Ireland and the south of England. This means that in both these 

 districts mackerel fishing is most productive during that month. It 

 does not imply that the fish are as abundant in the one district as in 

 the other. 



Where possible Table I. is constructed from the actual figures for 

 three years. Where this cannot be done the results are derived 



* Report for 1875, EDglish Translation in lieport U.S. Fish. Com., 1877, pp. 667-680. 

 t Ann. Mus. Nat. Hist. Marseille Zool. Appliqu^e. 



