94 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 
in the South Channel than during the winter months. Of the total 
quantity of fish landed at Boston by this class of vessels, 17,062,732 
pounds were haddock, of which 39.28 per cent were ‘‘scrod.” The 
ereat disparity in the landings of inal sh by this method as com- 
pared with line trawls is confined wholly to haddock, the large and 
small fish of other species caught by the two methods, such as cod, 
cusk, and hake, being more equally divided. 
On July 20, 1915, the otter trawler Hast Hampton landed at 
Gloucester 310,000 pounds of fresh fish, most of which were had- 
dock. The largest trip previously brought in was 300,000 pounds, 
caught by the otter trawler Long Island. ‘These were the largest 
fares ever taken by American otter trawlers. 
Mackerel_—The amount of salted mackerel taken in 1915 was 
19,691 barrels, exceeding the catch of the previous year by 4,170 
barrels. The catch off the New England coast was 15,480 barrels 
and on the Cape Shore, including a few fares from the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence, 4,211 barrels, or 750 barrels less than was taken in those 
regions in 1914. The total catch of fresh mackerel by the fleet was | 
71,564 barrels, compared with 68,582 barrels the previous season. | 
The number of fresh mackerel taken on the Cape Shore was 781,000, 
which exceeded the catch of 1914 by over 200,000 fish. In the fall 
of 1915 several vessels of the seining fleet made phenomenal catches 
in Massachusetts Bay, one vessel making a stock of $6,548 in three 
weeks, at which time it was reported that a much larger body of 
mackerel was on the coast than had been observed for several years. 
The mackerel fishery in the spring of 1916 showed a marked 
improvement over that of 1915, the catch up to May 15 being nearly 
double the amount recorded the previous season on the same date. 
Three vessels of the seining fleet stocked over $9,000 each and one 
$11,246, the last-mentioned stock being $2,361 more than the highest 
made by asingle vessel to the end of May, 1915. There were engaged 
in the southern mackerel fishery 24 seiners and 58 netters. Fifteen 
of the latter sailed from Gloucester and 43 from other ports. The 
number of seiners was one less than in 1915, but there was an increase 
of 41 netters. A portion of the seining fleet sailed on March 24, 
but none of the netters sailed until April 25. The first mackerel of 
the season of 1916, amounting to 7 barrels, were caught on April 5 
about 80 miles east by south from Cape Henlopen, or practically 
in the same locality where the first fish were encountered the previous 
season. ‘The fish were landed at Lewes, Del., from which place they 
were shipped to New York by rail. Other small trips were caught 
in the same region within a few days, but the first fare of any con- 
siderable size was landed at New York on April 26, one vessel bringing 
in 41,800 fish, followed.the next day by the arrival of 6 vessels with 
trips ranging from 6,000 to 40,000 fish. From this time until the 
middle of May the supply of mackerel in the New York market was 
about equal to the demand. For the week ended May 8 the amount 
of fresh mackerel landed was 553,000 in number, mostly large and 
medium, compared with 268,576 fish last year, which were mostly 
small. Many of the large mackerel in April sold for 40 cents each. 
The average price ranged from 12 to 20 cents for large and medium, 
while tinkers brought from 3 to 6 cents a pound. 
On May 31 there were 1,200 mackerel landed at Boston, the first 
fare of the season. Four vessels of the seining fleet sailed for the 
