NATURAL HISTORY OF IMPORTANT FOOD-FISHES. 251 



of their occurrence during the present century.. In one instance (page 

 183) a tisherman who caught two hundred could not induce people to 

 steal them, although he left theui out all night on a wharf for the ex- 

 press purpose. According to Dr. Storer, (Pr. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 

 1852, 280,) a bounty for its extermination was proposed, especially in view 

 of its injury to the mackerel-fishing. The blue-fish is, however, very sweet 

 and savory, but does not keep very well; and the difference in taste 

 between a fish fresh from the water and one that has been out a few 

 days, even though the latter be perfectly sweet, is very great. A great 

 improvement in the flavor of the fish, as well as in the firmness and 

 whiteness of its color, is effected by killing it as soon as caught and 

 bleeding it, this operation being best performed by slashing the gills and 

 cutting through the throat between them. The fish is well supplied with 

 blood, as shown by its great muscular vigor, and bleeds very profusely ; 

 and persons accustomed to its taste when cooked, after being thus 

 treated, are very unwilling to eat such as have been allowed to die in 

 the ordinary manner. 



As far as I could ascertain, very few blue-fish are used for the manu- 

 facture of manures or for oil, coming, as they do, when other kinds of 

 food-fish are scarce. It is probable, however, that on the sea-coast, when 

 a very large catch is made, the surplus is applied directly to the land, 

 as is customary with the menhaden. 



The wholesale value of the fresh blue-fish varies also with the season 

 and the locality. At Edgartown the fish were sold in 1871 for about 1 

 cent a pound ; and at Hyannis, Wood's Hole, and the pounds along the 

 coast, at from 1^ to 2 cents a pound, the price varying with the immedi- 

 ate demand. At Beaufort, North Carolina, which is the principal mar- 

 ket for the Carolina blue-tish, the wholesale value is GO cents to $1 per 

 hundred. The salted fish bring about $8 or $10 per barrel of 200 pounds. 

 The retail price varies perhaps less than the wholesale, being generally, 

 in the markets near the coast, about 8 cents a pound. 



There appears to be no foreign commerce in this fish, the consumption 

 being almost exclusively when fresh, and but to a limited extent when 

 salted in barrels. 



I have not learned whether the experiment has ever been made of 

 salting and drying this fish, as is done with the cod family. 



There appears to be no fish on the European coast presenting the 

 same relationship to the other fishes as the blue-fish, which, as already 

 remarked, exercises a terrorizing influence over other species, either de- 

 stroying them bodily, or driving them away from their accustomed 

 abode. 



Captain Atwood refers to the influence they exert upon the shore- 

 mackerel fisheries of New England. A similar effect is produced in 

 Massachusetts Bay during the summer upon the fish of the cod family, 

 the tautog, and other fish, it being understood that when the blue-fish 

 appear all other fishing ceases for the time. Although such a result of 

 tlie return of the blue fish is not so marke«l on the south coast of New 

 England, its exterminating qualities are evident, and need to be taken 

 very seriously into account in considering the question as to the causes 

 of the diminution of the food-fishes. 



As already remarked, I feel quite assured that this combination of 

 blue-fish, with the use of traps and pounds, has reduced the scup and 

 tautog, sea-bass, &c., to their present scanty number on the south coast 

 of New England. The two causes must be considered as working to- 

 gether, aiul deserving the accusations that have been brought against 

 them. And possibly the effect is about equal, as, although the blue-fish 



