THE SEA FISHERIES OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 183 



the bottom of the boats. It runs oat with the utmost freedom, as it does with any 

 full-spawning fish. That period - ranges from the middle of May on our coast, and 

 from June and July in Bay St. Lawrence. Mr. Whiteaves says they spawn in the 

 Bay of Chalenrs in June. The season extends from the early part of May to the be- 

 ginning of July. 



Q. Where do the mackerel deposit the eggs ? — A. The mackerel, like all sea fish, 

 with the exception of the herring, the tomcod, and sculpin, has a free floating egg. 

 The egg is discharged in the water wherever the fish happen to be, inshore or off- 

 shore, and it floats just under the same condition that the egg of the cod does. It 

 has a small globule of oil as a buoy, and it floats on the surface or anywhere from 

 that to halfway down, or perhaps almost to the bottom, depending on the gravity of 

 the egg and the specific gravity of the water. 



Q. Is the mackerel supposed to be able to control the time when it will spawn ? — 

 A. When the egg is ripe it has to be discharged, whatever happens. The egg can- 

 not be retained after it is overripe. 



Q. How do the eggs of each mackerel compare in numbers with those of the cod ? — 

 A. The average of the mackerel spawn is about 500,000. They are very small, as you 

 can imagine, for mackerel is not a very large fish. The eggs, when spawned, are 

 only about one-fiftieth of an inch in diameter, about half the size of that of the cod. 

 They vary in 3ize, some being smaller and others larger, but they only vary within 

 moderate limits. 



Q. You say they spawned all along the American coast ? — A. I presume they spawn 

 in some numbers along the entire coast from the shore of Virginia to the coast of 

 Labrador ; formerly they spawned on the coast of Newfoundland, when mackerel 

 were caught there, where they were very abundant a great many years ago, and also 

 off the Bay of Fundy, when mackerel were abundant there. 



Q. What is the food of the young mackerel ? — A. The young mackerel, like the 

 young of most other fish, feed on diatoms and other marine, plants of low origin. They 

 feed on the eggs of crabs and marine animals, probably on the small eggs of fish 

 themselves, and as they grow they eat anything small enough to be swallowed. 

 They don't bite as bluefish do, but they take everything at one mouthful and swallow 

 it whole. 



Q, And what is the food of the adult fish ? — A. The adult fish feed very largely 

 upon young fish, sand lants and young herring, and probably upon the young of their 

 own kind. They are cannibals, as all fish are. They feed very largely upon what is 

 called hay seed or cayenne ; that is a minute kind of shrimp, which is so diminutive 

 you require a microscope to separate it into its component parts. They feed also on 

 large shrimps and on the young of large crabs. Its favorito food in summer is what 

 fishermen have described as all-eyes, that is, young fish which, so far as I can judge, 

 must be young mackerel, because I do not know any other fish that could be so abun- 

 dant of that size at that season of the year. It is called all-eyes because its body is 

 perfectly transparent, and when you see them swimming in the sunlight you can only 

 see tw T o eyes as two small dark specks. That occurs in almost incredible abundance, 

 covering miles square and furnishing food for an enormous yield offish. 



Q. With regard to its bearing upon the locations of mackerel, I will ask whether 

 there is any particular place where the food of mackerel is to be found, or whether it 

 is all along the coast where the mackerel come ? — A. The shrimp belongs to a class of 

 crustaceans which inhabit the high seas everywhere. We took them this year in 

 great quantities in coming across from Salem to Halifax, at George's, La Have, and 

 Brown's Banks, and in Halifax Harbor. We take them in Eastport, Salem, and 

 Portland Harbors, and as far as I am advised by the specialists who are associated 

 with me, there is no part of the ocean where these small animals are not to be found 

 in ample abundance, sometimes enormously aggregated and at other times less com- 

 mon. They are found at all depths of water, from the surface to the bottom. We 

 take them in our dredge aud in our midway and surface nets. Those and the young 

 of the large crabs are found under all circumstances and conditions. 



