454 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



55. New York and Philadelphia. 



57. Fifty cents per gallon. 



58. We cannot see that it does diminish them. 



57. Statement of James H. Bell, MispilUon River, Delaware Bay, January 



23, 1875. 



1. Oldwife, a corruption of alewife, is the name universally applied to 

 the fish in this vicinity, and all along the western shore of Delaware Bay. 



2. They rank equal to if not more abundant than the sea trout, and 

 far exceed the number of any other fish ; a thousand bushels of trout 

 are sometimes taken at a haul; but the main fishing season does not 

 last over a month, while menhaden are caught more or less during six 

 months of the year. 



3. No diminution is noticeable ; the number seems to be about the 

 same one year with another. 



4. These fish ate not sought in this vicinity for any purpose whatever; 

 and when caught in seines laid for other fish by fishermen, are left on 

 the beach to rot, or taken home and fed directly to hogs, or composted 

 for fertilizing the soil, for which they are only valuable. 



5. Quantity taken from the water never seems to affect the supply. 



G. They are first seen here early in March, and continue to increase 

 in number till about the 15th April, when the sea-trout frightens them 

 off. They soon return in increasing numbers, however, till the middle or 

 last of May, after which they begin to disappear in large schools until 

 about the 1st August, when they again appear numerous, and continue 

 so, if the weather is mild, until the latter i)art of September, when they 

 begin to disappear. 



7. High ; by their capture at first, windy weather generally prevail- 

 ing in March, renders the bay too rough for the ripple to be seen ; be- 

 sides, they are not inclined to show themselves about the surface till 

 the water becomes warm, as in August and September ; the fish-hawk 

 and trout-gull follow closely in their wake, and destroy a great many. 



8. The opinion prevails, that after entering the bay they follow the 

 main channel, spreading toward the shore on either side as they advance, 

 until arrested by brackish water. The western shore of this bay is very 

 shallow, the tide near the beach seldom rising above six or seven feet. 

 When the tide is three-quarters flood, the fish run in close to land, and 

 are caught within twenty yards of the beach ; as none are seen on the 

 surface at such times, it is probable that they are then in pursuit of food; 

 at slack- water to first quarter ebb, if it is calm, the water is spotted with 

 the break or ripple ; and as the tide recedes they float out with it to 

 deep water. 



9. Their appearance is as regular as the shad ; an old fisherman re- 

 marked to me that he never knew it to fail, or a diminution in their 



