202 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Q. Do cod migrate at all? Is this known for a certainty to be the case ? — A. It is 

 not certain that they have such migrations as we ascribe to the bluefish and mack- 

 erel ; whether they traverse a mile of sea-bottom in search of food, or whether they go 

 100 miles for it, under any circumstances, I cannot say. 



Q. I understood you to say yesterday that you could not trace their migrations at 

 all ? — A. No, I cannot. 



Q. And do you not pretend to say that they do migrate ? I rather understood you to 

 say also that mackerel do not migrate ?— A. They migrate, but they do not sweep 

 along the coast — at least I do not think they do so, as was formerly supposed, for 

 very many miles ; but rather come direct from their winter grounds inshore. 



Q. I understood you to say your theoi-y at present was that there was a vast body 

 of mackerel which, forming one wing of their army, passed along the American 

 coast ; and that another wing directed their course into the gulf? — A. Yes. 



Q. I see that in the answer of the United States, page 10, the following language 

 is used : 



" The migration of mackerel in the spring begins ou the Atlantic coast from a point 

 as far south as Cape Hatteras. The first-comers reach Provincetown, Mass., about 

 May 10. Here they begin to scatter, and they are found during the entire season along 

 the New England coast. 



" Whatever may be the theories of others on the subject," says Professor Baird 

 "the American mackerel-fisher knows perfectly well that in spring, about May, he 

 will find the schools of mackerel off Cape Hatteras, and that he can follow them 

 northward, day by day, as they move in countless myriads on to the coast of Maine, 

 of Nova Scotia, and into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. They may be occasionally lost 

 sight of by their sinking below the surface ; but they are sure to present them- 

 selves, shortly after, to those who look for them farther north and east." 



Do you now adhere to that statement? — A. I think that was not the most philo- 

 sophical expression on that subject. My views in regard to the proper theory con- 

 cerning mackerel have been modified since then, to the extent I have alleged. 



Q. In fact, if I correctly understood you yesterday, you rather inclined to the theory 

 which has been started here, that mackerel are not a migratory fish at all, but hiber- 

 nate in the mud ? — A. I cannot precisely say ; but the evidence is quite strong in favor 

 of hibernation of some kind, though I do not consider the case proven in this respect; 

 at the same time I do not consider it philosophical to refuse to countenance its possi- 

 bility. 



Q. Will you tell me how, if possible, it could be otherwise, if it is true that the 

 mackerel have, in the spring, scales over their eyes, as has been described by wit- 

 nesses here, and, as I understand, you admit? — A. I cannot say that this is the case ; 

 I have never seen it. 



Q. If these scales are on their eyes they could not possibly do otherwise than hiber- 

 nate 1 — A. I cannot say that ; I am not a mackerel, and I could not tell what they do 

 or what they do not do. 



Q. Is it certain that any fish, that you are aware of, hibernate in the mud ?— A. 

 That is not certain, but it is believed to be the case. 



Q. Do you know of any fish which certainly does hibernate ? — A. The eel does. 

 Q. Is its eyes nrotected against the mud by scales? — A. This is not the case so far 

 as I know. It has not been noted or reported. 



Q. How has it become a theory if it has never been noted ? Is it the want of ex- 

 perience with reference to mackerel that you do not know whether scales are found 

 over its eyes or not ? — A. I have never caught mackerel in the critical period of the 

 year when they are said to have scales over their eyes ; but a specimen which I have 

 preserved in alcohol did have scales over its eyes, though the action of the alcohol on 

 the cornea of the eye always tends to make it opaque and destroys its transparency. 

 Q. Is there any period of the year when mackerel must be prevented frcm seeing, 

 as far as you can judge from the specimen which you possess ? — A. No ; I cannot say 

 that. 



