COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 27 



Tinker Mackerel, appeared outside in great numbers May 15th. 



Squiteague. — (Cynoscion regalis.) — The catch of squiteague or 

 weakfish, in the traps off Newport in 1913 was very poor. The 

 earhest reported was made on April 23rd in the scup traps but not 

 until May 14th in the traps off Third Beach, Newport. The best 

 catches were made about June 23rd, although no large catches were 

 made this year. A comparison with other years will be seen in Table 

 X on page 29. 



Butter fish (Poronotus tricanthus). — A few butterfish were caught 

 around April 22nd, mixed m with other fish. The large rmi however 

 did not occur until considerable later. The first big catch of the 

 season occurring June 3rd. There were large quantities of small 

 fish all through the season. For the comparison of the first appear- 

 ance for a number of years of these fish and others mentioned below 

 see Table XI on page 30. 



Striped Bass (Roccus lineatus). — The first catch of striped bass 

 in Rhode Island waters in 1913 was on April 14th. By the 21st of 

 April the catches had increased to barrel lots. Some large catches 

 were made the first of November, when one day's haul amounted to 

 eleven thousand pounds. Good average catches were made bj'- all. 

 One factor of the season was the large catch of these fish by the 

 Gray Brothers as far up as Prudence Island, a greater distance inland 

 than these fish have been caught in recent years. 



Sea Bass (Centropristes striatus). — Sea bass were first taken 

 in the traps on April 26th. The majority of these fish taken durmg 

 the season were unusually large. 



Sea Robins (Prionotus carolinus). — There were not enough of 

 these fish caught to supply the demands of the market and the 

 majority were small. The first catch was on April 26th. 



Squid. — The demand for this species of mollusk was very poor, 

 and the catch was nothing extra. They were first noticed in the 

 traps about April 23rd, and at that time were exceptionally large, 

 some measuring eighteen mches in length. 



