REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 29 



plentiful supply of toll bait, has had a tendency to disperse the 

 schools of mackerel and is partly responsible for the prevailing 

 scarcity of that species during the past twenty or more years. This 

 opinion, however, has not become sufficiently strong or general to lead 

 to any concerted action on the part of the vessel owners with a view 

 to abandoning the use of these forms of apparatus in the mackerel 

 fishery and returning to the former methods. 



The Grampus sailed from Gloucester April 7 and proceeded south- 

 ward to Lewes, Del., where she joined the seining fleet. On May 2 

 the vessel sailed from that port to begin the work of investigating 

 the movements of the mackerel. The first experiments were made on 

 that date in latitude 38° N. and longitude 74° 21/ W. The work was 

 continued along the coast from this locality to Georges Bank until 

 the 1st of August, but chiefly on the southern grounds in order to 

 ascertain whether the mackerel remain there after making their first 

 appearance early in the spring or move northward. The fish were 

 not located there, however, after the early run in the spring, nor 

 were any of the usual signs of them, such as sea geese, red feed, 

 whales, etc., observed. The vessel worked over Georges Bank and 

 continued eastward over Browns Bank, and on August 5 anchored 

 at Sandy Point, Shelbourne, Nova Scotia. She sailed from there 

 on the 8th of August, and from Halifax on the 12th, reaching North 

 Sydney, Cape Breton, on the 15th. For the remainder of August 

 and during September the work was pursued in the Gulf of St. Law- 

 rence and on the southerly part of the coast of Newfoundland. The 

 Grampus left the Gulf of St. Lawrence early in October and arrived 

 at Gloucester on the 16th of that month. At all times during the 

 cruise a masthead lookout for mackerel was kept day and night when 

 the weather was favorable for observation, and net trials for locat- 

 ing the fish were made at every opportunity. 



During the first part of the trip the work was frequently interrupted 

 by stormy weather, which also at times greatly interfered with the 

 operations of the seining fleet. The mackerel were late in showing, 

 and were unusually far offshore. Investigation showed that the lat- 

 ter condition was caused by the appearance of great schools of bonito, 

 which came up the coast over the usual mackerel route and kept the 

 schools of mackerel well offshore, and later, when the mackerel 

 approached their regular course, caused them not to show, but to move 

 along under water. This was indicated by the many large hauls made 

 by the vessels of the mackerel netting fleet, which did unusually well, 

 while the purse-seine fishermen, depending on the mackerel to school 

 and show, had a poor season as a whole. There was a good catch 

 on the Nova Scotia coast, or Cape Shore, and the vessels did well 

 for a time on Nantucket Shoals, but otherwise the season was 

 practically a failure. A few hauls were made on the southern edge 

 59395°— 11 3 



