AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 2473 



think they are young mackerel. We dou't know what they are because 

 they are very young. 



Q. Where have you found those all-eyes ? A. In great abundance 

 at Block Island, and often twenty-five miles off the coast of. that island. 



Q. In what quantities have you found them ? A. They will some- 

 times cover miles of water. They will be ou the surface of the water so 

 that you can pick them up in your hand, and can take five or six in the 

 palm of your hand. 



Q. What extent of surface have you found covered with these little 

 fish ? A. We find them from alongside of the vessel till we reach three 

 or four miles off in a boat ; we find them the whole distance. I don't 

 know how far they may extend beyond, but quite a distance. 



Q. Is there any other food for mackerel ? A. There is what we call 

 cayenne; it is a seed of some kind or spawn. 



Q. Is there any other food? A. Hay-seed or red-seed ; it has various 

 names among different classes of people. 



Q. What is that ! A. I don't know. 



Q. It is animal? A. It is something that has life, I suppose. 



Q. How far out to sea do you find that? A. On the George's Banks, 

 and even to the north, west, and east of the George's. 



Q. Is that found very extensively, or only in small quantities ? A. At 

 some seasons very extensively, and at other seasons there will not be so 

 much. We qanuot tell exactly how extensive it may be. 



Q. Is there any other mackerel food ? A. Sometimes the mackerel, 

 when down near the bottom, feed on different kinds of fish near the 

 bottom, such as shrimp. You find shrimp in mackerel at different 

 times. 



Q. And jelly fish ? A. I don't know that I ever found any jelly fish 

 in them. I have seen mackerel tear them to pieces, but whether they 

 eat them or not I don't know. I have seen mackerel jump at them, but 

 probably it was for some other fish that were round the jelly fish. 



Q. You carried fresh mackerel into the New York market ? A. Yes. 



Q. That goes packed in ice, I suppose ? A. Yes. 



Q. How many vessels are engaged in the business of carrying fresh 

 mackerel into the New York market? A. About fifty sail. 



Q. And how many are engaged in the same trade for the Boston mar- 

 ket ? A. Nearly the same number, to the best of my knowledge. 



Q. Are those vessels of the same size as other vessels engaged in the 

 fishing business elsewhere ? A. Smaller vessels run with fresh mackerel 

 to Boston than to New York. 



Q. What would you estimate as the average tonnage of vessels en- 

 gaged in the fresh mackerel trade for New York, and also the average 

 tonnage of vessels engaged in the same trade with Boston ? A. Prob- 

 ably somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 or 55 tons for Boston, and 

 perhaps 10 or 12 tons more for New York, on an average. 



Q. Not quite so large as the average of the Cape Ann fleet ? A. No. 



Q. Can you give any idea of the quantity of fresh mackerel that goes 

 into the New York market every season ? A. I should say about a fair 

 average would be 40,000 mackerel to a vessel. 



Q. Do you mean for the season or trip ? A. For the season. 



Q. How many mackerel, such as go into the market, would there be 

 on an average to a barrel ? A. Of such mackerel as were taken there 

 last spring it would take in the neighborhood of 150 on an average to a 

 barrel. 



Q. How many fresh mackerel do you think go to the Boston market? 



