REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [40} 



that the mackerel which are on our coast in the region of Cape Cod and 

 south of that, or anywhere near that, ever come down the coast here 

 and pass Halifax. 1 have never thought that they did so; but then I 

 cannot bring evidence to prove that they did. I never* saw mackerel 

 between Cape Sable and Cape Canso, though I have seen some at Louis- 

 burg, on the south shore of Cape Breton Island, when I was there once, 

 I never saw these mackerel, but I fully believe that mackerel do come 

 in the spring northward by Halifax, and again pass this w r ay in the fall. 

 But then I think that after the mackerel which pass Halifax get to Cape- 

 Sable they pass off the coast. 



"Q. I wish you to state how late in the season you have successfully 

 fished at the Magdalen Islands'? — A. I could not remember the date ex- 

 actly; but I should think that we never staid at these islands later than 

 about the first of October, though it may have been the 10th of thai 

 month; but that is about the latest period. 



" Q. Have you found mackerel good in quantity at the Magdalens as 

 late as the first of October"? — A. I think that is the case. I believe 

 that it was October before we left these islands the first year I was there ; 

 and we caught mackerel just before we left them." 



Mr. A. B. Rich, of Proviucetown, Mass., makes the following remarks 

 concerning the migrations and movements of mackerel : 



" Mackerel come along the coast from the south. When the water be 

 comes cold they strike off into the depths. It is quite likely that they 

 spend the winter at the south, at points where the water is about as 

 cold as along the Massachusetts coast in the summer time. They are 

 first seen in June, and steadily increase until September, when the main 

 body makes its appearance. The first run is the smallest. Their ap- 

 pearance is regular and certain. In November these fish begin to leave 

 and withdraw by degrees. Both sexes come together and the spawn of 

 the female seems to be mature when they first appear. Very few mack- 

 erel will take the hook at first, but do so after the spawning season is 

 over. Their arrival is known by their capture only, for they swim low 

 Very little spawn runs out of the mackerel caught with a hook, but 

 large quantities out of those captured in nets. Mackerel are not anad- 

 romous. No small fish arc seen on the breeding grounds. Mackerel 

 seem to like deep water where the temperature is about 48° or 50°^ 

 About 20 fathoms is their usual depth.' 1 



Mr. Noah Mayo, of Boston, Mass., makes the following statements 

 concerning the movements of mackerel: 



'•Mackerel come on this coast froui the south, making their first ap- 

 pearance off ('ape Hatteras and along the coast to Long Island. So 

 along the Massachusetts and Maine coasts as it grows later, going into 

 the Bay of Fundy and into the Bay of Chaleur and Gulf of Saint Law- 

 rence. All mackerel found in the Bay of Chaleur come from the Amer- 

 ican waters. Most of them pass between George's Bank and Cape Cod 

 on their journey from the south to their summer resort. They leave by 



