110 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



results of the inquiry or the general menliadeu question. On specially 

 prepared forms they were required to record, for each haul of the seine, 

 the following data: Date, hour, fishing-ground, number of menhaden 

 taken, number of each kind of other fish taken, disposition made of 

 fish, and pliysical observations on the air, water, etc. The position of 

 each seine haul was indicated on a cliart. Notes on tlie fishery and on 

 the abundance, size, movements, and spawning condition of menhaden 

 were also obtained. 



The vessels selected for the purposes of the investigation were the 

 steamers Qmckstcp, of Kew London, Conn., and J. W. Haiclcins, Uarbor- 

 ton, Va. The accommodations on the QuicJcstej) proving insufficient, on 

 June 22 the observations were transferred to the steamer Arizona, of 

 New London, for the remainder of the season. The Arizona is a screw 

 steamer of 103 net tons having a value, with outfit, of $25,000. The 

 crew consists of 30 fishermen, 2 captains, 2 mates, and 8 other persons. 

 Two purse seines, each about 1,400 feet long, are used, the vessel being 

 what is known as a "double-gang" steamer. The tonnage of the J. W. 

 Ilaivl'ins was 125; her value was about $20,000; her crew consisted of 

 18 fishermen and 8 other persons, and her regular seine was 900 feet 

 long, although at times a seine 1,500 feet long was employed. 



The representatives of the Commission on these vessels were as fol. 

 lows : Mr. C. E. Latimer, Mr. W. P. Hay, and Mr. A. E. Marschalk, on 

 the Quiclistep and Arizona; Mr. E. F. Locke and Mr. E. E. Eace, on the 

 J. W. Haivkins. On June 22 Mr. Latimer was relieved by Mr. Hay, 

 who was connected Avith the inquiry until August 1, when Mr. Mar- 

 schalk took his place and continued the work until the suspension of 

 fishing. Mr. Locke was on the J. W. EawJcins during the entire sea- 

 son, with the exception of the month of October, when he was relieved 

 by Mr. Kace. 



The vessels fished from Maine to North Carolina, and their oj)era- 

 tions were sufficiently extensive to warrant conclusions as to some of 

 the questions in dispute. Fish were fairly abundant along the entire 

 coast, and the season was an average one for the general menhaden 

 industry. The observations of the agents covered fishing operations 

 in which nearly 28,000,000 menhaden were taken, or about one-twentieth 

 of the total catch in 1894. The Arizona took 22,000,000 menhaden during 

 the year and 18,700,800 while agents of the Commission were aboard; 

 this was the second largest yield in the history of the vessel. During the 

 observations on the Quiclcstep that vessel took 2,532,000 fish. The catch 

 of the J, W. Mawlcins was 9,301,955 menhaden, a number considerably 

 less than the average in recent years. 



Two-thirds of the menhaden taken by the Arizona (and QuicTisteiy) 

 were obtained in Delaware Bay and oft" the New Jersey coast. Of the 

 C19 seine-hauls of these vessels, 370 were in those regions. More than 

 two-thirds of the fish caught by the J. W. HawJcins Avere in Chesa- 

 peake Bay, where 315 seine-hauls in a total of 459 were made. 



About GO species of fishes were represented in the catch of the 



