THE BLUEFISH 195 



regions for many years at a time." Professor Baird always 

 considered it, of all our coast fishes, one of the most destruc- 

 tive to marine life, a genuine wolverine of the sea. 



The Bluefish swim in schools, ready to pounce upon any- 

 thing edible that comes along. Once a cat-boat from which 

 four of us were fishing sailed swiftly through a school. Within 

 about five seconds four fish struck in a rush that w T as prac- 

 tically simultaneous, and amid flying spray and general ex- 

 citement four vigorous victims of misplaced confidence were 

 hauled aboard. A fish which is so greedy that it kills more 

 fish-prey than it can use surely is a good fish to pursue for 

 sport. 



On our coast this fine fish is fairly common from Florida 

 to northern Maine, ranging in size from 5 to 20 pounds. As 

 a food fish it ranks on the bill of fare next to shad. Owing 

 to its known voracity, it is debited with the annual destruc- 

 tion of an enormous quantity of other fishes. On the hook 

 it is savagely courageous, and fights to the last. 



Of all North American fishes this species stands fifth in 

 commercial value, being surpassed only by the Pacific salmon, 

 cod, shad and mullet. In 1897 the catch amounted to twenty 

 million pounds, worth $643,705, but in the latest reports of 

 the United States Fish Commissioner (1911, 1912 and 1913) 

 the Bluefish is not once mentioned! This leads us to infer 

 that the annual catch has heavily declined. 



The Spanish Mackerel 1 may stand as a typical repre- 

 sentative of the Mackerel Family (Scombridae) , in which we 

 find the Common Mackerel of the North, the Kingfish of our 



1 Scom-be-rom'o-rus mac-u-la'tus. 



