OF THE HABITS AND MIGRATIONS OF THE MACKEREL. 21 



It should be mentioned that in the English Channel and in the 

 Mediterranean, although the fish are close in-shore along the coast in 

 May, they do not enter Plymouth Sound and the Gulf of Marseille 

 in great numbers until later, in the former case not until July, in 

 the latter in June. 



America. — We have already seen that towards the end of April the 



mackerel on the east coast of the United States are taken as far north 



as the capes of Delaware, but still at some distance from land. About 



the beginning of May the fish approach the coast in the neighbourhood 



of Long Island. They are present at about the same time in abundance 



in the neighbourhood of Nantucket and in Massachusetts Bay. 



Towards the end of the same month they are first taken off Nova 



Scotia (May 20th, 1883 ; May 16th, 1884), but it is often much later 



than this when they appear in the Gulf of St, Lawrence. At the 



Magdalen Islands, near the mouth of the Gulf, mackerel most frequently 



arrive during the first week in June. In 1884, which was a very late 



year, owing to the fact that the ice did not leave the Gulf until June 



2nd, no mackerel were taken until August.* When the fish are late in 



appearing on the Massachusetts coast they are generally proportionately 



late in reaching the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The years 1871 and 1872 



offer a good example of this, as will be seen from the dates given 



below : — f 



Waquoit, Massachusetts. 



1871. iJate of first appearance of mackerel, April 25th. 



1872. „ „ „ „ „ May 10th. 



Difference i?i time, 15 days. 



Magdalen Islands, Gulp of St. Lawrence. 



1871. Date of first appearance of mackerel, May 31st. 



1872. „ „ ., „ „ June 20Lh. 



Difference in time, 21 days. 



With reference to the passage of the mackerel into the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence, Captain J. W. Collins, of the U.S. Fish Commission, \ states 

 that during May and early June large bodies of these fish pass along 

 the shores of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, from west to east, some 

 entering the Gulf by the Straits of Canso, others going round the north 

 of Cape Breton Island. 



July and August. — Europe. At all the large fishing centres there 

 is a great falling off in the quantity of mackerel landed during these 



* Bull. U.S. Fish. Com.., vol v. p. 60. 

 t Ilc2mrt of U.S. Fish. Cum., 1881, p. 13C. 

 t Report of U.S. Fish. Com., 1881, p. 121. 



