414 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [20] 
stormy weather, there are ordinarily only 20 good fishing days, though 
small quantities are taken almost every day during the stay of the fish 
on the coast. 
In the Chesapeake the fishing season is sofewhat longer, owing per- 
haps to the warmer temperature of the water in the early spring. It 
begins late in May, and is at its height from the 10th of June to the 1st 
of September, when the mackerel start for the ocean. 
11.—DISPOSITION OF THE CATCH. 
Almost the entire catch of Spanish mackerel is consumed in a fresh 
state. A few are salted by the fishermen of North Carolina, who, owing 
to their ignorance of the value of the species in the Northern markets, 
as well as to the lack of suitable shipping facilities, seldom market their 
catch in a fresh state. Those salted are not considered very valuable, 
and the inhabitants are seldom willing to pay more than $5 or $6 a 
barrel for them, placing them on a par with the blue-fish and other 
common species. It is doubtless true that the fine flavor of the mack- 
erel is very much impaired by salting, and that as a salt fish it is infe- 
rior to the common mackerel (Scomber scombrus), with which every one 
is familiar. 
In 1879 the owner of the oyster and clam cannery at Ocracoke Inlet 
purchased small quantities of mackerel and put them up in two-pound 
cans, but the business was very limited, and no extensive trade was de- 
veloped, only a few hundred cans having been prepared. Recently, at 
the suggestion of Professor Baird, experiments were made in canning the 
Spanish mackerel at Cherrystone, Va., for the purpose of ascertaining 
their relative value as compared with other kinds of canned fish. The 
report from the canneries is to the effect that they were no better than 
fish of ordinary grades, though there seems to be a difference of opinion 
on the subject. However this may be, there is certainly no prospect of 
an extensive business either in the salting or canning of the species, as 
the demand for the fresh mackerel is sufficient to offer an outlet for all 
that can be secured; while the price ranges so high as to make their 
canning or salting entirely impracticable. 
As a fresh fish, the Spanish mackerel has few equals. It is one of 
the most valuable species taken in the United States, and is a great 
favorite with epicures. The price paid for the mackerel in the different 
markets is often extravagant. Instances are not uncommon where the 
wholesale price has exceeded one dollar per pound. The first fish sent 
to New York in the spring usually sell as high as 75 cents a pound, and 
the price does not tall below 60 cents for some time; but as the quantity 
increases the price is gradually reduced, until, at times of oversupply, 
when the market becomes glutted, they occasionally sell as low as 6 or 
7 cents a pound. The average wholesale price in New York in 1880, 
for all grades, is said to have been about 18 cents a pound. Mr. C. W. 
