HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN MENHADEN, 425 



34. Statement of E . T. Be Blois, Portsmouth, R. J., November 2G, 1S77. 



We have 3 steamers : B. T. De Blois, 81.30 tons, crew 13 ; Albert 

 BrowD, 78.05 tous, crew 13; Win. A. Wells, 51.58 tons, crew 13; have 

 caught 20,040 barrels of fish this season ; the length of seine 300 fath- 

 oms or 1,800 feet; depth, 17 fathoms or 102 feet. 



35. Statement of H. D. Ball, Netc Shoreham, B. L, January 11, 1875. 



1. Menhaden. 



6. They make their first appearance about the 1st of May in large 

 schools. 

 23. They seem to color the water red. 

 34. Gill-nets and pounds. 



41. No vessels are engaged in the business. 



42. For cod bait. 



43. None. 

 58. No. 



36. Statement of Henry W. Clarlc, Jceeper of Southeast Bight-Rouse^ BlocJc 

 Island, B. L, February 6, 1875. 



1. Menhaden. 



2. Menhaden are the most abundant. 



3. There seem to be as many now as ever ; but some seasons they are 

 more plentiful than at others. 



4. In 1873 some gangs of fishermen caught 25,000 barrels of them. 



5. No; but the first are more wild, and there are more fishermen than 

 there were ten years ago. 



6. We first see them about tlie 1st of May. They come in abundance 

 from the middle of May to the 1st of June. TLere is generally a May 

 " run " and a June '' run." 



7. They swim close to the surface of the water. 



8. They generally strike in on the coast of Virginia. 



9. They come every season. 



10. I think nets and seines scare them, and they are not so easily 

 caught as they were before these were used. 



11. They generally work in and out with the tide; but when they are 

 making a passage tide does not affect them. 



12. The rivers seem to be their favorite resorts. 



13. In the summer we find them in shoal water, but in deeper water 

 when cold weather approaches. 



14. When the water is cold they swim low. 



15. They leave their spawn in the rivers and shoal places. 



10. We see schools of young fish about the 1st of September. The 

 fish then are about 2 in» hes long. 



