218 FISHES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



remains an appalling aggregate of tlestruction. \Miile the smallest blue-fish feed upon the 

 diminutive fry, those of which we have taken account capture fish of large size, many of 

 them, if not capable of reproduction, being within at least one or two years of that period. 



North Carolina has long been famous for its blue-fish, which support special 

 market fisheries and also afford excellent sport to many hundreds of persons 

 annually. The species is subject to great variations in abundance quite indepen- 

 dent of human influence. Yarrow has left the following note on the fish during 

 1871: 



This species appears in Beaufort Inlet in early spring, but is taken only in nets. In Jvme 

 it commences to take the hook, but the months of August and September are the best for 

 trolling. At this time enormous numbers may be found in schools, swimming alongside shoals 

 in tolerably rough water. On the 23rd day of September, 1871, four persons, in four hours, 

 took by trolling 660 blue-fish. During the latter part of this month, in the same year, enor- 

 mous schools were noticed in and near the ship channel, feeding upon the red-billed gar, so- 

 called {Hyporhaniphus roberti). The stomachs of individuals taken were literally crammed 

 with these fishes. The very large specimens of blue-fish occasionally met with in the markets 

 in January never enter Beaufort Inlet; they are taken on the beach from Cape Lookout north- 

 ward, the run lasting sometimes two months, occasionally only a week or ten days. During 

 the last week of December, 1871, large schools of young blue-fish were noticed in Beaufort 

 Inlet swimming from the southward, apparently making for the sea; their size about four 

 inches. 



Mr. R. Edward Earll (in Goode, 1884) gave the following account of the 

 blue-fish in North Carolina in the years preceding 1880: 



The large fish are most abundant between Cape Hatteras and New Inlet. Small fish 

 frequently enter the sounds during the summer months, and have long been taken by the 

 residents. The larger ones seldom enter the inlets, but remain near the outer shore, where 

 they feed upon the menhaden, shad, and alewives, during the season of their migrations to 

 and from the larger sounds in fall and spring.. 



Apparently the first that was known of the presence of large blue-fish in this region was 

 in 1842, when a quantity was taken in a haul-seine near New Inlet. Gill-nets were first used 

 for the capture of the species in this locality in 1847, though they were not generally adopted 

 till several years latter. The first vessel visited the region in 1866, and from that date to 1879 

 six to twelve sail came regularly to the locality. The fishery reached its height between 1870 

 and 1876, when in addition to the vessels fully one hundred crews of five men each fished 

 along the shores. The catch varies greatly from time to time as the fish are constantly on the 

 move and often go beyond reach of the seines and gill-nets. Some seasons each boat's crew 

 has averaged four or five thousand fish weighing ten to fifteen pounds each, and again they 

 have taken almost nothing. Frequently the bulk of the catch of an entire season is taken in 

 three or four days. 



Since the winter of 1877 and 1878 the fish are said to have been much less abundant and 

 of smaller size. In the winter of 1879 and 1880 about seventy-five crews were engaged in the 

 fishery from the first of November till Christmas. The total catch did not exceed fifty thousand 

 fish averaging six pounds each. The small nimiber taken is partially accounted for by the 

 fact that many of the fish were so small as to readily pass through the meshes without being 

 caught. 



During my visit in May, 1880, large schools of blue-fish were reported along the shore, and 

 a considerable number of shad and other species were found upon the beach where they had 

 been driven by their pursuers. A good many blue-fish were also stranded while in pursuit of 

 their prey. It seemed that there is no reason to believe that the fish have permanently left 



