404 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



23. The water is whitened. 



34. Gill-nets. 



35. Forty fathoms long, 4 fathoms deep. 



36. No vessels wholly employed in the business ; only a few caught 

 for bait. 



40. We think not. 



41. We do not have any vessels <^xpressly for this business. 



42. For bait only. 



21. Statement of William Atwood, light-house Ji'eeper, Plymouth, Mass., 



February 23, 1874. 

 1. Menhaden or pogy. 



6. Formerly about the 1st of May. The first are the largest. 



7. They swim high and make a ripple on the surface of the water, 

 but do not attract the birds to any considerable extent. 



8. From the south. They work into the sand in bays and coves. 



10. Tes. 



11. They come mostly on the flood tide. 



14. Yes ; they prefer an even temperature. 



15. They usually keep separate. 



16. Tes ; and are from one to one and a half inches long. 



17. September, in a body. 



18. Southeastern. 



19. They spend the winter ofi" Virginia, the Capes of Delaware, and 

 in deep waters in the Gulf. 



20. Suction. 



31. No. 



32. Very much. 



33. Not on this coast. 



34. Gill-nets and seines. 



35. The gill-nets are from 15 to 20 fathoms long, and from 4 to 5 deep. 

 Seines vary ; are much longer than nets. 



36. Propellers, steamers, and schooners, varying from 50 to 100 tons. 

 Beside these, many small boats are employed on the eastern coasts of 

 Maine. 



There are no oil manufactories here. 



Within the last ten years, these fish have diminished to such a degree 

 that they are almost extinct in this vicinity. It is supposed that the 

 cause of their leaving here was on account of their being frightened by 

 the seines being placed in deep water. We hear that they are taken 

 quite abundantly on the north coast of this State and in Maine. 



