130 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



equally attractive to the fish, aud occurring in very great numbers, the 

 more northern, the Ommastrephes, beiug found about Newfoundland and 

 other portions of the Dominion, and the Loligo in increasing numbers 

 from Cape Cod south and westward. They are used either fresh, im. 

 mediately after being caught, or sometimes kept in ice; being very 

 largely salted, however, in which condition they maintain their attract- 

 iveness for about three weeks.* They are usually taken at sea by 

 means of the jig, and inshore the weirs and pounds are sometimes 

 found to contain them in immense numbers. 



The squid, of one species or another, is found off the coast through- 

 out the greater part of the year, in Newfoundland more especially in 

 the spring and summer, and on the Massachusetts coast at almost all 

 times. It occurs more rarely in winter, apparently passing off into the 

 warmer waters. It is probable that by exposing the squid to the cold 

 of a freezing mixture and rendering them specially hard, they may be 

 kept indefinitely or until wanted. Among other pounds where squid 

 have been taken in large numbers, that at Waquoit, Mass., captured 

 more than 6,000 in a single day ; and at the same pound, the captures 

 for the first twenty-five days in May alone amounted to 35,000. (Rep. 

 IT. S. F. C, 1871-'72, page 174.) 



(9) Whelks. — As already mentioned when discussing the subject of 

 the long or trawl line as used in Europe, the whelk or Buccinum unda- 

 tum was referred to as the principal bait for that mode of fishing; and 

 although captured every year in immense numbers for use by quite a 

 large fleet of boats and vessels, it still appears to be as abundant as 

 ever. Here we have another indirect illustration of the influence of 

 man in producing a balance of power in the sea, the whelks being 

 notorious enemies of the oyster and other mollusks and destroying 

 them in great numbers. The drain, therefore, upon the increase of the 

 whelk doubtless has a material effect on the supply of these other 

 objects. 



In England whelks are taken on long-lines, on the snoods of which 

 the common shore crabs are fastened or threaded, no hooks being em- 

 ployed. When laid down, the whelks seize this bait and, retaining 

 their hold with great tenacity, are hauled up. 



Another method of taking them is by means of baskets baited inside 

 with pieces of fish, a net being stretched over the end, with the basket 

 in the center. The whelks enter this, and when the baskets are drawn 

 up, they remain in them. 



Shallow hoop-nets, too, are baited with fish for this purpose, and the 

 incidental advantage of their capture, as already stated, is in the 

 diminution of an inveterate enemy of the oyster. Each smack requires 



* Squid can usually be kept from 2 to 3 weeks iu ice, and for months when salted. 

 While the French use salted squid almost exclusively on the Grand Bank, the Amer- 

 icans and Provincials prefer to have thorn fresh, and use but few salt ones, and those 

 only in the fall when no others can be obtained.— J. W. Collins. 



