184 EEPORT OP COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Q. Then we take the common bait, pogies, or meuhaden. They are mackerel bait, 

 are they not ? — A. Eaten by mackerel ? I do not think they are, unless they eat them 

 in the winter time. As to the spawning of pogies, we know nothing about it ; we 

 infer they spawn in winter off the southern coast. 



Q. Are not menhaden used as bait for mackerel by fishermen ? — A. The menhaden 

 itself is taken all through the mackerel season at some part of the American coast. 



Q. Is it abundant within your observation ? — A. Yes ; it is almost the most abun- 

 dant of our fish ; indeed, it is a question which is most abundant, sea herring or men- 

 haden. 



Q. Iu regard to the catching of mackerel as affecting the supply and the probable 

 diminution or increase of mackerel, what have you to tell the Commission about the 

 mode of taking mackerel ? — A. The mackerel is taken in a great variety of ways. At 

 present it is taken by jig hook and by the net iu some form. Formerly it was taken 

 by means of hooks, as we do for bluefish, sailing backward and forward in a boat 

 having a number of lines put from the vessel, and taking them when the vessel is 

 under full speed. That method is still practiced on the coast of Europe, where mack- 

 erel are still taken in that way. Then it was found that by keeping the vessel com- 

 paratively motionless and throwing chum or chopped meat overboard mackerel could 

 be brought up to the vessel, and that proved a much more efficient and' thorough 

 mode of capture. Nets were introduced, and many mackerel are now taken in gill- 

 nets. Seines which are hauled to the shore have been introduced at some places on 

 the coast of Nova Scotia, and a good many mackerel are taken in pounds and weirs, 

 enormous quantities being taken in sirring and fall on the New England coast in that 

 way. The purse-seine is perhaps the most efficient and comprehensive method, and 

 it is used by vessels. 



Q. What is the proper depth of a purse-seine? — A. Twenty, twenty-five, or thirty 

 fathoms deep. 



Q. To be successful it has to have that depth? — A. It has to be deep, but it must 

 be shallower than the water, or it will get entangled aud torn. 



Q. Do you know whether it is true that there must be that depth in order that the 

 mackerel shall not discover it so quickly and escape ? — A. I could not say ; that is a 

 fisherman's theory, which I know nothing about. 



Q. With regard to the preparation of mackerel, what have you to say?— A. Noth- 

 ing, except that they are used in increasing numbers fresh. The principal consump- 

 tion inEurope is in fresh fish. The people there do not salt fish, or scarcely at all. They 

 are put up in Europe, and I believe, to some extent, in Canada in cans ; I do not think 

 that is done in the United States. 



Q. Of course, you have obtained information as to the manner in which the fish can 

 be used by consumers; you have nothing to do with the mercantile side of the ques- 

 tion ?— A. No. 



Q. You have had it presented to you. Do you find that the demand for fresh fish 

 of all kinds is increasing ? — A. I know the tendency at the present day is to substi- 

 tute fresh fish for salt, in view of the improved methods of p reparation and preserva- 

 tion, and the improved means of communication, railroads and steamboats coming to 

 the shores aud carrying away the fish and distributing it over an extent of thousands 

 of miles and more in the interior, it bringing a much better price as fresh fish, and 

 yielding a much better profit to the seller. 



Q. Is that trade rapidly increasing ? — A. It is increasing with enormous rapidity. 

 Every year witnesses a great extension of the methods and increased improvements 

 in the mode of preparation and the size of the refrigerators and their number. 



Q. In regard to herring, what have you to say ? — A. Herring is a fish of wide range. 

 Though I cannot say it goes farther north than cod — perhaps it does not — it goes 

 scarcely as far south on the American coast. I have not found any evidence of its being 

 taken south of Block Island. It is very abundant off Block Island and Narragansett 

 Bay in winter, but whether it is found farther south I am unable to say ; it is found 

 as far north as Labrador, and much farther. 



