3l6 MARKETABLE BRITISH MARINE FISHES 



April. In May, however, the fish approach the land while 

 spawning, being taken at the end of the month only a mile or 

 so outside the Breakwater. In June they remain inshore, but 

 these are the smaller fish, and much larger fish are caught off 

 Ushant and the Scilly Islands. At this time fishing by hooks 

 commences. In July and August mackerel enter Plymouth 

 Sound, where they are taken by whiffing lines, and in good years 

 by seine. After the beginning of September they leave the 

 Sound, and are caught a few miles south of the Eddystone. In 

 October and November they are caught from four miles south 

 of the Eddystone, to 20 or 30 miles south of Start Point. Off 

 the coasts of Norfolk and Suffolk there is a valuable drift-net 

 fishery for mackerel, which is carried on in May and June, and 

 also from the ist September to the middle of November. I do 

 not know why they should be absent in July and August. 

 It seems probable, however, that these fish only visit this part 

 of the North Sea in summer, that they spawn there in May 

 and June, and that they retire to the Channel in the latter part 

 of November. 



Along the east coast of Britain north of Norfolk very few 

 mackerel are taken, only a few hundreds being taken in the 

 herring nets in summer. On the west coast of Scotland they are 

 more plentiful. On the west coast of England they are taken 

 regularly in summer in some abundance ; at the Isle of Man the 

 fishery lasts from May to September. In Ireland the principal 

 mackerel fishery is in the south-west, but they are taken in 

 summer all along the west coast. 



Mackerel also regularly appear on the south-west coast of 

 Norway, in the Skagerack, and on the west coast of Sweden in 

 May, and give rise to a considerable fishery. 



It is a common belief among fishermen that mackerel are 

 blind at the beginning of the year, having a cloudy film over the 

 eyes which obstructs their vision, and which disappears in 

 summer. In support of this belief it is pointed out that they 

 only take a bait in summer. I have never seen anything in the 

 condition of the eyes to warrant this belief, although I have 

 examined plenty of mackerel at all seasons of the year. The 

 two fleshy transparent upright lids are always present ; there is 

 an opening between them where the eye is uncovered. But I 

 have never seen any cloudiness in these lids, nor anything 



