58 FISH : THEIR HABITS AND HAUNTS. 



are strong you need not be fearful of any 

 damage to your tools, and with proper care 

 you can call him in. The black-fish weighs 

 from one to ten pounds. 



MACKEREL. 



On our coast the mackerel is taken in 

 nets in small numbers from the latter part 

 of May until about the loth of June. After 

 this it may be readily taken with the hook, 

 and is brought to market in large quantities. 

 Although as fresh fish mackerel are sold in 

 our markets along our whole coast for several 

 months of the year, and are considered by all 

 excellent food, their greatest value arises from 

 the employment they afford to an immense 

 number of persons by the process of salting 

 and packing, the number of barrels in- 

 spected in Massachusetts each year being 

 about two hundred and fifty thousand. In 

 some years immense shoals of mackerel are 

 readily met with, and vessels return from fish- 



