[21] THE SPANISH MACKEREL. 415 
Smiley, who has made a careful study of the Philadelphia market, puts 
the average price for that city at 164 cents per pound during the same 
period. The fish taken in the northern waters reach the market in much 
better condition than those shipped from a distance, and for this reason 
they sell more readily and at better figures. They are, as a rule, much 
larger and fatter than those taken in Chesapeake Bay, this fact alone 
making considerable difference in their value. While the Virginia fish 
are selling in New York at 15 cents, the larger ones from Sandy Hook 
and Long Island frequently bring more than twice as much. 
Many of the fishermen of the lower Chesapeake do not ship their own 
fish, but sell to the dealers in Norfolk and other places at 7 to 10 cents 
apiece. Others pack in ice and ship directly to Baltimore by steamer; 
but, as their facilities for packing and shipping are limited, the amount 
realized, after deducting the necessary expenses, is little, if any, in ad- 
vance of that received by parties selling in Norfolk. 
The principal markets, in their order of importance, are Baltimore, 
New York, Norfolk, and Philadelphia; from these points the catch is 
distributed to the larger cities of country, where the fish are consumed 
by the wealthy classes, few going into the country towns of the interior. 
Few cities keep any accurate statistics of their fish trade, and for this 
reason it is impossible to give the quantity of mackerel handled by their 
dealers. No figures can be given for the Baltimore trade, though it is 
safe to say that the merchants of that city handle fully three-fourths of a 
million pounds annually. The report of the New York Fish-Mongers’ 
Association shows that 274,913 pounds were handled in that city in 
1878. This quantity, according to the same authority, was increased to 
309,168 in 1879, and to 390,000 pounds in 1880. Mr. Smiley, in his re- 
port on the Philadelphia market for 1880, gives the quantity of Spanish 
' mackerel handled as 65,880 pounds, valued at $10,870. Mr. W. A. Wil- 
cox, secretary of the Boston Fish Bureau, estimates the quantity han- 
dled in Boston in 1879 at 15,865 pounds, while that in 1880 was about 
20,000 pounds. 
12.— STATISTICS OF THE FISHERY. 
It is not possible to state the exact quantity of Spanish mackerel 
' taken by the fishermen of the United States during any season, but a 
careful study of the fisheries in the interests of the Fish Commission 
and Census enables us to give the following table, compiled from the 
preliminary statistical reports recently prepared by Col. Marshall Mc- 
Donald, Mr. A. Howard Clark, and the writer, for publication by the 
Census Office. The catch for New York is obtained from the manuscript 
notes of Mr. Fred. Mather, while the figures for the Gulf of Mexico are 
gathered from data forwarded by Mr. Silas Stearns. 
