416 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [22] 
Table showing by States the quantiiy of Spanish mackerel taken in 1880, ie the total 
catch for the United States. 
Pounds of 
State, mackerel taken. 
WES CEYe TEI) UT 1s So eate BOD a oon ceBCGeIGORS ae so5 US adscco=eoocsosnaetadsosscoacondegosee 60 
WhodeTsland =: <2 -. css. . ala nie oom wwe women = owes wien gees wieieennn= tnnninin wean 2, 000 
MW GUNE CH CUD Re So oc on <a o\miewlnininic neni nlelewie'e cin sn wl nim alnlalntsiaia(e ala) afastals| aiuto Ss alal=loteeieteleiatetalal sate ane 1, 200 
INN VORA | CBs opobennE non sq eeoreaoce SeeeeheCnoossanpacncds satorasosppesAse Seisiaiese 25, 000 
ENG Wad CXS OY ein islets «1 clsicie sian ota cre eminem nto tnlm min ofal oe lotelafotetmralotetatetatatalietel ale |e attetetaiaitate aieyeee ty tere ae 200, 000 
Wu eMby itl Reae aa taser co couc Sb CEEeS Sp emde Boece se Jeno 7 ocaoOnAnoNmon br Se cco ASHeEe Aes iSaecee 18, 000 
BURT UTA er ee So salar cote tac uray, Sa c/Sicte eect nee aoe ne ee 1, 609, 663 
INGrth Carolinas: .2 1.6 s2cese8-28,. seo see eee eee Ue eet Raa Nce, een as Ree ek) i 
POULM CATON A cic ocieisl-)n wloisielalaisiale slaislars eset eletatelsie et aielslaetaeaoaisininiate esta = eee eee cena er 1, 000 
MasternmeHlOnida © «ces oe cman seein elajaminiaiatele nate aels sialeia oe ert ats see tieee eeiaice serene 500 
NGdlt Of MOxiIGO" @ 5 '5)-'- ais’ oie. nidic\-clsicniem nicte oceania meee eee nee steerer eee amet 20, 000 
ROG i arotatese alo /aintaleia aiale o alate staal tolets olaapeitaletiateleteieiateel eels faneecter eno aaa a atte eee seen ee 1, 887, 423 
From the above table it will be seen that Virginia produces 85 per 
cent. of all the mackerel taken, and that the New Jersey fishermen catch 
over two-thirds of the remainder. ‘This, as has already been remarked, 
is largely due to the ignorance of the fishermen of many localities, both 
as to the abundance of the fish and to the proper methods of catching 
them. That the fishery will soon be extensively developed in other places 
seems quite certain. 
C.—ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION. 
13.—CAUSES THAT LED TO THE EXPERIMENTS, AND OBJECTS TO BE 
ACCOMPLISHED. 
The discovery of the spawning grounds of the Spanish mackerel was 
the result of an arrangement between Professor Baird and General 
Francis A. Walker, Superintendent of the Tenth Census, for gathering 
facts relating to the fisheries of the country, including notes on the life 
history of the more important species as well as the statistics for the 
different fisheries. To this end the writer visited the Southern coast in 
the winter of 1879~80 for the purpose of studying the marine fisheries, 
while Col. Marshall McDonald, fish commissioner of Virginia, went to 
the same region to gather material for a report on the river fisheries of 
our Southern seaboard, special attention being given by him to the fresh- 
water fishes and the more important anadromous species like the shad, 
alewife, and sturgeon. 
There are several localities along this coast where both the marine 
and anadromous species are taken together by the same parties. At 
such points it was found desirable to work together, and the fisheries 
of certain districts were carefully studied in this way. In the Chesa- 
peake the anadromous and marine species are taken in nearly equal 
quantities. In order to better understand the fisheries of this region, 
we spent a week together at New Point, studying the various questions 
that presented themselves. While engaged in this work we learned of 
the abundance of Spanish mackerel, and noticed that many of those 
taken were nearly ripe. A further investigation of the subject proved 
