[23] HISTORY OF THE MACKEREL FISHERY. 113 



The spawn begins to dry up after tlie first of August, and young flsli 

 begin to appear about the 4th of August. He thinks that it takes mack- 

 erel four or five weeks to spawn ; after that they begin to grow fat, and 

 when they are fat there is no sign of spawn to be seen, the male and 

 female not being distinguishable. 



The growth is rapid, and in about seven weeks the young fish are about 

 four or five inches long. 



Mackerel spawn abundantly in Grover's Beach at a depth of one and 

 a half to two fathoms. The eggs are very minute and the old mackerel 

 feed upon them greedily. 



Captain Fisher, of Portland, Me., told me, in 1874, that when the 

 mackerel come in they are almost empty and have a muddy taste. 

 They first engage in spawning, but toward the last of June they have 

 finished and begin to grow fat. 



Captain Hurlbert caught a dozen fish oft' Camden July 1, 1870, which 

 were half spawned and had spawn running out of them. 



According to Mr. Wilkins, of Two Isles, Grand Manan, the mack- 

 erel spawns there on the rocks and sand in water from 1 foot to 10 feet 

 or more in depth. This is in the first half of June. The spawn is in 

 bunches and does not float on the water. 



During the spawning season mackerel are taken in seines, as they will 

 not bite and are then very poor. They come again in September and 

 October, and are then taken with the hook. 



Mr. Hall, of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, says that mack- 

 erel spawn only once in seven years in large numbers, this period rep- 

 resenting the interval between the successive large catches. The mack- 

 erel strike in there about the 10th of June. They spawn about the 2d 

 or 3d of July on the Bradley Bank to the north of Prince Edward Is- 

 land. At that time they have been taken with spawn running out of 

 them. They cease to bite for several weeks while spawning. One of 

 the principal spawning- grounds on our coast appears to be on the Nan- 

 tucket Shoals, where for a period of three or four weeks after their first 

 appearance the mackerel hug the bottom and rarely take the hook. At 

 this time there is a lull in the prosecution of the mackerel fishery, al- 

 though before its beginning great quantities are taken in the purse- 

 seines far south along the coast. After the close of the spawning sea- 

 son the old fish are said to be very poor, but take the hook greedily 

 along the entire coast, as also before the beginning of the spawning sea- 

 son ; although the fish first brought to market are sold at a high i:)rice 

 on account of their previous scarcity, it is not until after the close of 

 the spawning season and the subsequent fattening up of the fish that 

 they attain their highest excellence as an article of food. Fall mack- 

 erel are well understood to be by far the best fish. Storer, in his his- 

 tory of the fishes of Massachusetts, remarks: "From the 10th of May 

 to the 15th of June they appear at the entrance to Massachusetts Bay, 

 having been a few days previous at Nantucket and the Vineyard Sound. 

 S. Mis. 110 8 



