404 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [10] 
in mid-summer. The investigation of the Southern fisheries began in 
Florida in January, 1880, and when the fishery interests of that state had 
been sufficiently studied, we proceeded northward, visiting every im- 
portant fishing station along the coast of Georgia and the Carolinas, 
reaching the Chesapeake early in May. After spending some time at 
Norfolk, and at the fishing shore of Capt. W. E. Taylor, at Willoughby, 
we accepted the invitation of Mr. O. E. Maltby to visit his fishing sta- 
tion at New Point, 40 miles up the bay. Here we spent a number of 
days in examining the spawning condition of the different species taken 
in the pound-nets of the locality, and soon discovered that many of the 
male mackerel were nearly ripe, while the eggs in the ovaries of some 
of the females were well developed. A little later we succeeded in tind- 
ing thoroughly ripe males and one or two females from which ripe eggs 
could be taken. Appreciating the importance of this discovery, we con- 
tinued our investigation, and soon satisfied ourselves that the spawning 
time was near at hand, as the eggs and milt in all of the specimens ex- 
amined were well advanced. Later, the writer visited the Eastern Shore 
of Virginia, including the counties of Accomack and Northampton, and 
found ripe eggs and milt in a large number of individuals. Further in- 
vestigation proved that the spawning season, as in many migratory spe- 
cies, varies with the locality, being earliest on the Southern coast, and 
latest about Long Island. The temperature of the water seems to have 
a decided effect upon the spawning time of the mackerel, and the ova- 
ries and spermaries do not develop very rapidly until it has risen to 
upwards of 72° Fahrenheit. The time of spawning for the Carolinas 
begins in April, while the season at Long Island commences by the 20th 
of August, and continues till the latter part of September. On the ar- 
rival of the species in the Chesapeake, in May, a few of the males are 
nearly ripe, and the ovaries of the females are very much enlarged. By 
the Ist of June occasional ripe fish are seen. The spawning season 
proper begins about two weeks later, and continues during the greater 
part of the summer. The fishermen report many of the mackerel to be 
full-roed when they reach the Sandy Hook region, and claim that by the 
last of August the eggs begin to separate and run from the female. 
From this date to the close of the season numerous individuals are taken 
from which eggs or milt will run freely. 
e The limits of the spawning grounds have not yet been definitely ascer- 
tained, though enough has been learned to show that the mackerel spawn 
at numerous points between Narragansett Bay and South Carolina, and 
it seems probable that when a thorough investigation is made the south- 
ern limits will be found to extend as far as Mississippi and perhaps to 
Texas. It is certain that they spawn in some of the sounds of the Caro- 
linas, in Chesapeake Bay, off Sandy Hook, and along the southern shores 
of Long Island; the Chesapeake and Sandy Hook regions being visited 
by immense numbers of mackerel for this purpose. 
