1132 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [2] 



The embryological investigations were conducted bj" Professor Eyder. 

 Messrs. Sauerbofl" and Walke, two of tbe most experienced fish-cnltur- 

 ists connected witb tbe work of tbe Commission, were detailed for 

 service at tbe station. A Herresboflf lanncb furnisbed convenient means 

 for tbe collection and transportation of tbe eggs from tbej^onnd nets to 

 tbe batcbing station. Tbe metbods and apparatus employed bere were, 

 in tbe main, tbose tbat bad been used in tbe experiments in cod batcb- 

 ing tbe previous winter at Wood's Holl. Fair results were obtained in 

 tbe use of nearly all tbe forms of apparatus employed. Tbe great draw- 

 back, bowever, to tbe station was tbe inability to obtain eggs in suffi- 

 cient numbers for tbe purpose of batcbing. Of course, large numbers 

 of Spanisb umckerel were taken in tbe j^ounds. It was found, bowever, 

 mucb to our suri)rise, tbat tbe fisb were eitber spent or in various de- 

 grees of immaturity. Only in two or tbree instances were we able to 

 secure full ripe fisb. Tbis is probably to be attributed to tbe fact tbat 

 tbe pounds are mainly fisbed on tbe first low water in tbe morning. Tbe 

 mackerel, wben unrestrained, probably spawns early in tbe evening. 

 Kipe fisb, tberefore, taken in i^ound and kept confined all uigbt, crowded 

 an<l worried by otber fisb, would spend tbeir eggs during tbe nigbt. 



If Cberrystone is, tberefore, to be made a center for fisb-cultural oper- 

 ations connected witb tbe Spanisb mackerel it will be necessary to adopt 

 means for securing tbe fisb independent of tbe pounds now fisbed on tbat 

 sbore. A pound net owned and operated by tbe Commission, so tbat it 

 could be fisbed whenever and as often as convenient, would probably 

 give large results in tbe way of eggs. 



In August, disappointed at tbe i)romise of eggs, wbicb we bad so 

 confidently looked for at Cberrystone, I made a visit to Tangier Island 

 and Crisfield by one of tbe ''run" boats carrying fisb from tbe east- 

 ern shore of Virginia to Crisfield. At tbis place I bad opportunity to 

 inspect tbe mackerel boats fishing oft" Tangier Island, all of wbicb run 

 to Crisfield with tbeir fisb in tbe morning after a night's fishing. In a 

 single one of these boats, containing 200 or 300 mackerel, I found 52 

 full-ripe female fisb, wbicb would have yielded over 5,000,000 eggs, a 

 number larger by far than we obtained from the pounds near Cherry- 

 stone during the entire season. 



Inquiry at Crisfield of the fishermen handling tbe Spanisb mackerel 

 showed tbat tbe ripe fish in largest numbers make their appearance 

 in tbe markets there from the middle of June to the first of July, 

 wbicb seems to be the height of the spawning season. Indeed, it is 

 probable that tbe natural spawning grounds of tbe mackerel are mucb 

 higher up the bay than Cberrystone. All indications would seem to 

 point to the middle ground off Tangier Island as their breeding place. 

 If in tbe future it be decided to develop the work of tbe artificial propa- 

 gation of tbe mackerel, I should recommend the establishment of a sta- 

 tion at or in the vicinity of Tangier Island and tbe erection of a pound 

 by the Commission, to be operated by its own men, for the jjurpose of 



