580 MISCELLANEOUS 



EXTRACTS FROM "REPORTS ON SEA AND RIVER FISHERIES OF 



NEW BRUNSWICK," BY H. M. PERLEY, 2d ED., 1852. 

 ******* 

 FAMILY 3. Scombridae. 

 GENUS 1. Scomber The Mackerel. 

 SPECIES 1. Scomber vemalis The Spring Mackerel. 

 SPECIES 2. Scomber grex The Fall Mackerel. 



These two species of mackerel are generally believed to be but one ; 

 but Cuvier considers them as different, and in this has been followed 

 by Dr. De Kay of New York. The scomber vernalis is the ordinary 

 mackerel of commerce, while scomber grex would seem to be those 

 little mackerel about ten inches in length, which are found in scat- 

 tered numbers every where, and are called by the fishermen of the 

 Bay of Fundy, " tinker mackerel," from their wandering habits. 



Although the mackerel is caught in great quantities on the north- 

 ern coast of New Brunswick, and within the Bay of Chaleur, as also 

 around the Magdalen Islands, yet it is rarely known to visit the 

 coast of Labrador. It is stated by Mr. Horatio Robinson Storer, of 

 Boston, who visited the Labrador coast in 1849, that mackerel ap- 

 peared there in great abundance that season, at the Island of Little 

 Mecatina ; but no fishing vessels being at hand, they departed again 

 unmolested, the few settlers on that desolute coast having neither 

 nets or lines for taking them. The mackerel fishery of Nova Scotia 

 furnishes one of its largest exports. In 1850, no less than 90,650 

 barrels of mackerel were exported from the port of Halifax alone. 

 Many of these were taken in the vicinity of Sable Island, and were 

 of the finest quality. 



Mackerel were formerly abundant near the coast of Newfoundland, 

 but none have been taken there since 1837. They were also plentiful 

 formerly in the Bay of Fundy, near Grand Manan and West Isles, 

 where but few are now taken. 



The great resort of the American mackerel schooners is on the 

 north and east side of Prince Edward Island, and in the vicinity 

 of Miscou, at the entrance to the Bay of Chaleur. There is also 

 good mackerel fishing within the Straits of Northumberland, espe- 

 cially off Buctouche and Richibucto. 



The mackerel taken in the early part of the season are generally 

 very poor; they improve in quality as the season advances, those 

 taken latest being by far the best. It is now considered settled, that 

 the mackerel is not a migratory fish, but draws off into deep water, 

 at the approach of winter, and returns to the shallow water near the 

 shores, at the beginning of summer, for the purpose of depositing its 

 spawn. 



GENUS 3. Mallotug. 

 SPECIES 1. Mallotus villosus The Capellru , 



This, the smallest species of the salmon family, inhabits the north- 

 ern seas only, never ranging farther south than the shoes of New 

 Brunswick. It is very nearly allied to the genus osments. from which 

 however it differs in the smallness of its teeth, and in certain other par- 

 ticulars. Some naturalists have called this fish salmo grcerilandicus, 

 while others have classed it among the herring family. Cuvier has 



