184 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 4 
Q. Then we take the common bait, pogies, or menhaden. They are mackerel bait, 
are they not ?—A. Eaten by mackerel? I do not think they are, unless they eat them 
in the winter time. As to the spawning of pogies, we know nothing about it; we 
infer they spawn in winter off the southern coast. 
Q. Are not menhaden used as bait for mackerel by fishermen ?—A. The menhaden 
itself is taken all through the mackerel season at some part of the American coast. 
Q. Is it abundant within your observation ?—A. Yes; it is almost the most abun- 
dant of our fish ; indeed, it is a question which is most abundant, sea herring or men- 
haden. 
Q. In regard to the catching of mackerel as affecting the supply and the probable 
diminution or increase of mackerel, what have you to tell the Commission about the 
mode of taking mackerel ?—A. The mackerel is taken in a great variety of ways. At 
present it is taken by jig hook and by the net in some form. Formerly it was taken 
by means of hooks, as we do for bluefish, sailing backward and forward in a boat 
having a number of lines put from the vessel, and taking them when the vessel is 
under full speed. That method is still practiced on the coast of Europe, where mack- 
erel are still taken in that way. Then it was found that by keeping the vessel com- 
paratively motionless and throwing chum or chopped meat overboard mackerel could 
be brought up to the vessel, and that proved a much more efficient and thorough 
mode of capture. Nets were introduced, and many mackerel are now taken in gill- 
nets. Seines which are hauled to the shore have been introduced at some places on 
the coast of Nova Scotia, and a good many mackerel are taken in pounds and weirs, 
enormous quantities being taken in spring and fall on the New England coast in that 
way. The purse-seine is perhaps the most efficient and comprehensive method, and 
it is used. by vessels. 
Q. What is the proper depth of a purse-seine?—A. Twenty, phen) -five, or thirty 
fathoms deep. 
Q. To be successful it has to have that depth?—A. It has to be deep, but it must 
be shallower than the water, or it will get entangled and torn. 
Q. Do you know whether it is true that there must be that depth in order that the 
‘mackerel shall not discover it so quickly and escape ?—A. I could not say; thatisa 
fisherman’s theory, which I know nothing about. 
Q. With regard to the preparation of mackerel, what have you to say?—A. Noth- 
ing, except that they are used in increasing numbers fresh. Tae principal consump- 
tion in Europe isin fresh fish. The people there do not salt fish, or scarcely at all. They 
are put up in Europe, and I believe, to some extent, in Canada in cans; I do not think 
that is done in the United States. 
Q. Of course, you have obtained information as to the manner in which the fish can 
be used by consumers; you have nothing to do with the mercantile side of the ques- _ 
tion ?7—A. No. 
Q. You have had it presented to you. Do you find that the demand for fresh fish 
of all kinds is increasing ?—A. I know the tendency at the present day is to substi- 
tute fresh fish for salt, in view of the improved methods of preparation and preserva- 
tion, and the improved means of communication, railroads and steamboats coming to 
the shores and carrying away the fish and distributing it over an extent of thousands — 
of miles and more in the interior, it bringing a much better price as fresh fish, and 
yielding a much better profit to the seller. 
Q. Is that trade rapidly increasing ?—A. It is increasing with enormons rapidity. 
Every year witnesses a great extension of the methods and .increased improvements 
in the mode of preparation and the size of the refrigerators and their number. 
Q. In regard to herring, what have you to say ?—A. Herring is a fish of wide range. 
Though I cannot say it goes farther north than cod—perhaps it does not—it goes 
scarcely as far south on the American coast. I have not found any evidence of its being 
taken south of Block Island. It is very abundant off Block Island and Narragansett 
Bay in winter, but whether it is found farther south I am unable to say; it is found 
as far north as Labrador. and much farther. . 








