REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 119 



111 the previous report mention was made of the intention of the 

 office to obtain statistics showing, for the fresh and salt fish, respec- 

 tively, the quantities and values of the mackerel of each size and grade 

 recognized in commerce. No attempts had previously been made to 

 secure complete information on this phase of the subject, the only data 

 published bearing on it being the report of the inspection of salt mack- 

 erel in some of the New England States. By those who have favored 

 the restriction of the mackerel fishery, much stress has been laid on 

 the diminishing size of the mackerel caught, the point sought to be 

 made being that the fishery is prosecuted so assiduously that the fish 

 fail to attain maturity before they are caught. While the results of 

 the efforts to secure complete figures on this point were not entirely 

 satisfactory, owing to the general absence of records showing the sizes 

 of the fish sold in a fresh condition, the information obtained is as 

 accurate as the circumstances permit and undoubtedly differs but little 

 from the actual results of the fishery. 



The sizes of fresh mackerel recognized in the trade are extra large, 

 large, medium, small, and tinkers; the grades of salt mackerel are 

 No. 1 extra, No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 large, No. 3, No. 4. Several special 

 grades are also recognized. These sizes aud grades may be defined as 

 follows, the measurements being made from tip of nose to fork of tail: 



Sizes and grades of fresh and salt mackerel recognized in the trade. 



The data obtained in the recent canvass, combined with those secured 

 in the previous investigation of this region, permit a comparison of the 

 mackerel catch for a continuous period of six years ending in. 1892. 

 The figures are very instructive, in view of the importance of the fish- 

 ery and the special attention it has of late received on account of the 

 serious decline dating from 188G. When the yield of mackerel in 1880 

 is contrasted with that in each of the recent years, as is done in the 

 following table, the full extent of the decrease is exhibited. 



It appears from the table that in 1880 the quantity of mackerel sold 

 fresh by the New England fishermen was 21,712,703 pounds, valued at 

 $371,329, and the quantity salted was 50,226,800 pounds (or 251,131 

 barrels), valued at 81,112,917. During the six-year period covered by 

 the figures presented, the fishery reached its lowest point in 1889, when 

 the yield of fresh mackerel was only 3,071,111 pounds, worth ^l'oIvjSO, 

 and of salt fish 5,286,967 pounds (or 26,135 barrels), having a value of 

 8171,871; while the fishery was at its maximum in 1SS7, in which 



