166 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



which also passed into the water, in a short time restored the previous 

 ample abundance of the fishes. In view, therefore, of these circum- 

 stances we can readily understand how much the movements of the sea 

 fish along the coast may be influenced by the enormous schools of sal- 

 mon, mackerel, shad, and alewives, the adults coining in during' spring 

 and summer and returning with the young at other seasons of the year, 

 and upon which they prey to a greater or less extent. It is now the 

 general impression that the anadromous fishes just mentioned pass the 

 period of their growth in the sea at no great distance from the mouth 

 of the river in which they were hatched, possibly extending their move- 

 ments outward 5 to 50 or even 100 miles, but still occupying a certain 

 relation to the rivers in question. A proof of this generalization is 

 found in the fact that in a cruise made by Mr. G. Brown Goode in a 

 mackerel vessel off the coast of Maine, in 1873, young shad, probably 

 one or two years old, as well as alewives, were found in considerable 

 proportion among the mackerel taken in nets 25 to 30 miles off the 

 shore, and he was assured by the fishermen that this was a very com- 

 mon occurrence. Such fish are not brought in, as they are not consid- 

 ered marketable, and are generally thrown into the water when taken 

 from the nets, where they become the prey of Other fishes. 



It is only necessary to bear in mind the enormous mass of these an- 

 adromous fish one hundred years ago, and even later, to appreciate the 

 influence they can exert in attracting fish from the outer waters to the 

 shores and keeping them there for a considerable part of the year, and 

 the lamentable result of the destruction of this source of supply, not 

 only on its own account but also for its influence upon the sea fish. It 

 is well known that while these anadromous fish were present there was 

 an ample supply of cod, haddock, halibut, hake, and various other spe- 

 cies close in to the shore. On the whole New England coast, as well as 

 in many parts of the Dominion of Canada, the fisherman, in an ordinary 

 open boat, could go out and catch a full fare at a short distance from 

 the land, both for use as fresh fish and for purposes of commerce, and 

 that it was not until this source of supply was cut off that it became 

 necessary to resort, to so great an extent, to distant parts of the sea. 

 We may therefore hope, as the result of methods now being prac- 

 ticed and their future extension, that the old state of things will be 

 renewed to our great advantage. 



As an illustration, both of the loss to our own industries by the de- 

 struction of the supply of anadromous fishes, and of the amount of at- 

 traction that would be furnished from a single river to the incoming 

 fishes and the retention on tlie coast of the outside fishes, I may again 

 refer to the quotation on page 50 from Martin's Gazetteer of Virginia. 

 Omitting here any considerations as to the enormous value of this 

 fishery, but bearing in mind that this was only one of at least forty 

 rivers where an almost equal catch might be looked for, let us proceed 

 to consider the amount of food and bait available for the sea fish, re- 



