REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [22] 



» 



Capt. Benjamin Asliby, of Noank, Conn., states that in the spring of 

 1877 mackerel spawned in great numbers in Vineyard Sound and Buz- 

 zard's Bay. Many mackerel were taken in the pounds, and the eggs 

 were so ripe that when the fish were thrown from the net to the boat 

 the eggs escaped to such an extent that iu cleaning out the boat after- 

 wards he found at least half a bushel at the bottom. This was as early 

 as the second of May, and continued through the mouth. 



Capt. R. H. Huiibert, of Gloucester, found the spawn running out of 

 mackerel taken off Kettle Island, south of Cape Ann, in May and June. 



Capt. Henry Webb, who owns a weir on Milk Island, under the 

 shadow of the Thatcher's Island lights, obtains many mackerel every 

 year in his nets. He informs me that when they first make their ap- 

 pearance, about the first of June, the spawn is running out of them and 

 many of them are half through the process of spawning. The eggs will 

 spurt from a female fish in a stream six feet long, and there is a large 

 percentage of females in the catch, probably two-thirds of the whole. 



Lawrence some time between the 1st and the 15th of July. Have caught them in 

 abundance and full of roe as late as the 4th and 5th of July, and it is exceedingly 

 rare to find spent mackerel previous to the 20th of June. In the period when liook- 

 and-line fishing was most prosperous, the fishermen usually planned to leave the Gulf 

 about the first week in July if they had succeeded in getting nearly a fare of mack- 

 erel previous to that time, since while the fish were spawning, or between the 1st and 

 15th of the month, but little could be done, as the uiaokerel sunk at that time, and 

 would not readily take the hook. The fishermen, therefore, knowing that they could 

 catch few fish during this period, between "hay and grass," as they termed it, usually 

 improved the opportunity thus afforded of making their passage home and refitting 

 for another trip with comparatively little loss of time. Apparentlj one of the most, 

 favorite breeding grounds for mackerel in the G.l J'of Saint Lawrence is the area along 

 the shores of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island (on the north side of the lat- 

 ter) lyiug inside of a line drawn from North Cape to Point Miscon. Bank Bradley is 

 also a breeding-ground for mackerel of considerable importance. The fish seem to 

 assemble on the grounds mentioned above during June, in a depth varying from 3 to 

 40 fathoms. The greater part, however, are found in a depth varying from 10 to '20 

 fathoms. The spawning season being over, they usually stay on the same grounds, 

 though later in the summer and during autumn the mackerel were formerly abundant 

 around the Magdalenes and the bend of Prince Edward Island; when the fall migra- 

 tion takes place they move farther south. It is probable that large numbers of mack- 

 erel may deposit their spawn around the, Magdalene Islands, though it is worthy of 

 note that but few or no fish have been taken in that locality on hook and line during 

 the month of June. Considerable quantities are, however, caught by the gill-net fish- 

 ermen early in June, though the catch has always been small compared with that 

 formerly obtained by hook-and-line fishing in the western part of the Bay.— J. W. 

 Collins. 



As corroborative of the views of Captain Collins, I give the statements of Capts. 

 Andrew Leighton and Joseph Rowe, two of the most keenly observant, and in con- 

 sequence the most successful, of the old school Cape, Ann "mackerel killers." The 

 former writes to Captain Collins: ''My observations are in harmony with yours." The 

 latter remarks: "I have always thought that the mackerel in the Bay of Saint Law- 

 rence sunk about the last of June to spawn. From the first to the middle of July was 

 always a very dull time to catch mackerel on hooks. When the mackerel sunk they 

 were full of spawn. When we got them again, about the middle of July, they would 

 have the most of the spawn out of them and be some fat." 



