18 



REPORT ON THE PRESENT STATE OF KNOWLEDGE 



The date of tlie appearauce of the spring shoals varies considerably 

 from year to year. As already mentioned, in 1894 the fish were taken 

 iu numbers on the west coast of France, at ])ouarnenez and the 

 neighbouring fishing ports, as early as February. In the following year, 

 1895, none were seen at Douarnenez until the 20th of April, whilst 

 at Quimper they first appeared on March 22nd.'^' 



The following dates, taken from the Reports of the Inspectors of Irish 

 Fisheries, give the times of commencement of the fishery for different 

 years at some of the principal Irish fishing ports : — 



Comparing the dates of arrival of the large shoals in the years 1894 

 and 1895 on the south-west coast of Ireland, and those already given for 

 the west coast of France, it appears that the fish came earlier in 1894 

 than in 1895 in both localities, and in both years reached the French 

 coast earlier than the Irish, the difference in time being from a fortnight 

 to a month. In 1895, although the mackerel were at Quimper earlier 

 than in Ireland, they did not appear at Douarnenez until some ten days 

 after the commencement of the Irish fishery. 



It is worthy of note that in certain bays on the west coast of Ireland 

 the large fish are taken in nets shot from canoes and row-boats close to 

 the shore some two or three weeks before they are captured by the 

 larger vessels working in the offing, where the water is 40 to 80 fathoms 

 deep.t As Mr. Green has pointed out, this seems to indicate tliat the 

 mackerel when approaching the shore keep deep down, the fish which 

 enter the bays being forced up into the upper waters by the rising of the 

 sea-floor. 



At about the same time as the appearance of the schools off 

 the west coasts of France and Ireland — that is, towards the end 

 of March — mackerel fishing commences in the Mediterranean. Large 

 schools are found off Cette, on the south coast of France. At 

 Marseilles, on the other hand, the fish do not enter the Gulf until 

 considerably later. 



* Bull. rkh. Mar., 1894 and 1895. 



t GiiEEN, Rev. W. S. "Notes on the Irish Mackerel Fisheries." Bull. U.S. Fish. Com., 

 1893, p. 357. 



