1992 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



the Massachusetts inspection law. In regard to mess-mackerel, there 

 is a peculiar way of dressing them. 



If I have an order for mess-mackerel I take number ones and cut off 

 their heads and the tails or caudal fins and put them into kits. They 

 are then sent off as mess mackerel. The very largest and fattest number 

 ones which are more than 13 inches long are selected for mess-mackerel. 

 Now, when you come to number twos you still want mackerel which are 

 somewhat fat, and mackerel may be longer than 13 inches and still riot 

 be good enough for number ones because these would be number twos 

 that is, their size will make them reckon pretty well, while the little fat 

 on them will bring them in as twos, but these fish must be, I think, 11 

 inches long from the nose to the foot of the tail. If the fish are smaller 

 than this they cannot be considered number twos. Xow, when you 

 come to number threes, if the mackerel are poor and such as I have been 

 telling you of as having been caught in nets at their spawning time, 

 they are all number threes according to our inspection law. Being poor 

 they cannot be called anything but number threes, but if they are 13 

 inches long, like number ones, they will pack for long threes. This law 

 has been altered in Massachusetts several times, and at one time the 

 big ones which were large enough for threes were branded threes south, 

 while those which were shorter than 13 inches, and yet poor, were branded 

 threes north, but such mackerel cannot be threes if less than 10 inches 

 long. If poor and 10 inches long, and fat but less than 11 inches long, 

 they can be twos, and if poor and 10 inches long they may be threes, 

 while if they are smaller than this they are classed as number fours. 

 This is the Massachusetts inspection law, which I think is now in force. 



Q. Are the inspection laws of Maine in substance like those of Massa- 

 chusetts ? A. I think that they are very much the same. I may remark 

 that some change may have taken place in these laws, in view of the 

 fact that we tinker at and modify our laws every year. 



Q. Are mackerel which are not inspected in the United States sold 

 to any considerable extent for consumption in the United States market T 

 Do the mackerel which come from the Canadian provinces, and which 

 are branded here, not being repacked and inspected in the States, find 

 a market in the United States ? A. I think that most of the mackerel 

 which comes from Nova Scotia or other British provinces is reinspected 

 when it arrives in the States. A good many fish dealers are appointed 

 deputy inspectors, under the general inspection act, and when this 

 mackerel comes in they repack it. They buy the mackerel in large bar- 

 rels, and if large and fat they take these mackerel out and make of them, 

 mess-mackerel, putting them into kits and placing their own brand on 

 them. 



Q. Is there a well known distinction made among fish-dealers and con- 

 sumers between what is called bay mackerel and shore mackerel ? A. 

 O, yes. 



Q. When a United States vessel comes up here and catches mackerel 

 off British waters, are these mackerel termed bay or shore mackerel ! 

 A. They are called bay mackerel, but those caught on our coast are 

 called shore mackerel. 



Q. Which, for a series of years, has commanded the highest price ? A. 

 Our shore mackerel has commanded a good deal the highest price for quite 

 a number of years; but when I first went to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 

 in 1835. and obtained good trips of mackerel, bay mackerel brought the 

 most; I should think that there was then more than $1 a barrel differ- 

 ence in favor of the latter. 



Q. And what has been the difference between the best shore and best 



