476 EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



use of nets does not scare them further from the shore, but the rivers 

 are not very wide. 



11. Always swim or drift with the tide. 



12. In the channels of the rivers. 



13. The deepest; when attacked they swim near the bottom. 



14. Are not seen after October, or, say, early in November. 



15. Do not breed here ; they arrive here one-fourth to one-half grown; 

 neither two-year old fish nor the oldest arrive at their first appearance. 



16. Not less in size than named in 15. 



17. Main bodies in October and early in November, by degrees. 



18. Proceed south. 



19. Southward. 



20. Having no teeth, they feed off the slime, scum, &c., on the surface 

 of the river. 



21. Further south; cannot say where. I have given this matter some 

 attention, and from what I consider the best information they spawn at 

 sea, not in the rivers, early in the spring. 



22. No. On their appearance in the rivers the sexes are mixed indis- 

 criminately. 



23. Is colored late in the season, but is only noticed at the time of the 

 <« catch " or " take." 



28. Not in this locality. 



29. Has been found to run in a late catch. 



31. Not. 



32. Severely from sharks, slightly from porpoises, late in the season ; 

 when at the inlets they are attacked by bluefish. 



33. Never has. 



34. Cotton and gill twine nets, after being partially worn in taking 

 other fish, are unfit for further use after the first season ; slime, &c., 

 rot them. 



35. Generally 50 fathoms in length ; 50 to CO meshes, of 1| inches to 

 If inches per mesh, deep. 



36. Open boats and canoes only, carrying from 10 to 25 barrels, are 

 used in this locality. 



37. Two (2) men to each canoe and net. In making what is called a 

 drop or haul, 4 to 6 nets are used. The school is surrounded, the fish 

 are meshed in the net, shaken from the nets into the boat or taken out 

 of the meshes by hand. The fish are never hauled to the beach. 



38. One haul generally loads the canoe; two loads can be made in one 

 day ; the time occupied for each load is from 2 to 4 hours. 



39. More on the ebb. 



40. Are more numerous in moderate weather with southerly winds. 



41. Only boats and canoes, as named in 30. Very few were engaged 

 in the business, though enormous quantities of the fish were present in 

 the rivers, during this last season. 



