[19] HISTORY OF THE MACKEREL FISHERY. 



" The cod leaves the banks and. shoals to meet and to follow the 

 launce as they approach the coast. In the same manner they meet 

 and follow the caplin, guided no doubt by the peculiar odor developed 

 by each species at the approach of the spawning- season. 



"But it is the habit of the saud eel of burying itself in the sand be- 

 tween the tides, or in submerged sand beaches, that leads the mackerel 

 so close inshore. 



"There can be little doubt that a similar indraught and outdraught 

 of mackerel and other fish occur in our waters when the launce leave 

 the deep sea to approach the land, or when they return to the deep sea 

 again. Unlike many of the shrimps and larval forms on which the 

 mackerel feed, which are drifted to and fro by winds and currents, the 

 launce is independent of the wind; but it is only in certain favorable 

 localities frequented by this fish that the burying process between tide- 

 marks, from which it derives its name, cau be easily effected; hence, 

 these resorts are not only valuable as bait grounds, but generally noted 

 mackerel grounds, such as Seven Islands, and some parts of Bay Cha- 

 leurs, and part of the gulf coast of- New Brunswick. 



"This bait-fish approaches the sandy beaches fringing the shores of 

 the gulf in the early summer months to spawn; and here the mackerel 

 are found pursuing them while engaged in depositing their compara- 

 tively large reddish-colored ova on the sands between high and low 

 water. Hence, during flood tide, and in the launce season, mackerel 

 are commonly taken close inshore on these coasts, in pursuit of the 

 launce; and the best catches are said to be made during the period of 

 high tide, for the following reason : In dull, cloudy weather the launce 

 buries itself in the sand left bare by the ebbing tides ; but in bright, 

 hot weather it rarely seeks the shelter of the sands except near low- 

 water mark, probably because the bent of the sun would be oppressive. 

 The breadth of sandy ground in which the launce buries itself for the 

 brief period between high and low water marks is thus dependent upon 

 the clearness of the sky. 



"A contiuuauce of cloudy weather is conducive to this kind of close 

 inshore fishery; whereas ;t bright sky, and a day" with a drying wind, 

 leads the launce to select the narrow bands of sandy beach near the 

 margin of ebb-tide, which always remain moist. In cloudy weather 

 with a moist wind, the area in which the launce bury themselves and 

 emerge during the incoming tide is thus very much greater than in 

 bright, hot weather; and it is not unfrequently found by experience 

 that the mackerel catch in such localities is much greater in cloudy 

 weather than in bright weather, because the bait ground is then far 

 more extensive close inshore. 



"As the summer advances and the launce retire to deep water the 

 mackerel feed upon the free- swimming and floating embryonic forms of 

 crustaceans; among the latter the zoea of different forms of crabs are 

 the most common. Adult shrimps of many species form also a large por- 



