22 UNUTILIZED FI8HES. 



devouring the gilled fishes, thus depriving- the fishermen of the fruits 

 of their labor ; and they become themselves entangled m the net, which 

 they bite with their sharp teeth and tear in their writhings imtil it is 

 beyond repair. They drive away or destroy the great schools of 

 sqnid, upon Avhich the fishermen depend for bait, and they even crowd 

 into lobster pots. The following letter from Capt. B. R. Kelley, of 

 Provincetown, Mass., represents the feelings of the fishermen uj^on 

 the subject of the horned dogfish : 



Your letter of inquiry about dogfish at hand, which I am pleased to answer. 

 I will answer your inquiries in order as you asked them. 



First. Thei'o is no one in Provincetown who is using the dogfish for any 

 profit. 



Second. There is no commercial use being made of the dogfish either for oil, 

 skins, glue, fertilizer, or food. 



Third. The dogfish never were so plentiful as they are this year. They came 

 about fifteen days later than last year, making their appearance in large 

 quantities July 14, and were very, large in size. July 2.5 small ones came in 

 large quantities, and they ate our nets up so badly we had to stop fishing for 

 mackerel, and unless some method for destroying the dogfish can be found 

 mackerel will cost the consumer more than 30 cents and cod and haddock 

 more than 12 cents per pound. We have had to take our nets out and dry 

 them and put them away for the season, and now our boats lay in the harbor, 

 |)ractically of no use to us unti> the dogfish thin out. As for ground fishing, 

 it is impossible to keep a hook on the bottom. Some of our large vessels have 

 lost hundreds of dollars' worth of trawls. I have heard some of our fishermen 

 say that if something is not done to exterminate the dogfish they will have to 

 give up fishing in the south channel, or, in other words, the southeast part of 

 Georges Banks. I will describe to you just how plentiful the dogfish were. 

 Southeast from Nomans Land in June last we dared not put our nets in the 

 water at night unless it looked as if the weather was going to be very fine 

 through the night, because if there came up a blow in the night and we could 

 not get our nets they would fill up with dogfish before morning and we would 

 lose them. I wish you could see some of our nets that were eaten by the 

 dogfish. I know of no fish that can do so much damage in the same time as the 

 dogfish can. There have been not hundreds, but thousands, of dollars' worth of 

 gill nets destroyed by these dogfish. We can not keep any bait in our lobster 

 pots. Some of the lobster fishermen tell me the pots have from one to five dog- 

 fish in them some mornings. Our harbor and bay are full of them. 



Some of our fishermen in years gone by have been in the habit of catching 

 bass on the back side of Cape Cod by throwing a line from the shore, but the 

 last two years they can not keep a hook in the water two minutes before a 

 dogfish will have the bait. These fish are of the largest kind. 



You wanted to know about what time these fish leave our coast. Probably 

 that varies, as they do coming on the coast. Last year the body of the fish left 

 the last of November. Our fishermen were doing a good business catching 

 mackerel in our bay, but there have not been any seen since the appearance of 

 the dogfish from Cape Cod to Eastport, Me., and our fishermen have come to the 

 conclusion, whether their idea is right or wrong, that the dogfish have eaten up 

 all of the live bait that the mackerel feed on. Now, Mr. Field, if something is 

 not done to exterminate the dogfish the consumers will have to pay more than 



