FORTIETH BIENNIAL REPORT 29 



MACKEREL 



In an effort to offset the failure of the sardine fishery, the purse 

 seine fleet intensified its effort on mackerel. Although the scoop boat 

 fishery for Pacific mackerel was generally unsuccessful in 1947, the 

 operations of the seiners maintained the catch of this species at a fair 

 level. However, indications are that the Pacific mackerel fishery is in 

 poor shape. During the 1947-48 season much of the catch consisted of 

 fish spawned in the spring of 1947. 



The feature of the mackerel fishery was the tremendous increase in 

 the catch of jack mackerel (horse mackerel). The 1946 landings of 

 15,000,000 pounds were well above average, but 1947 catches reached the 

 unprecedented figure of 129,000,000 pounds (see Figure 11). Some of 

 this catch was made in Central California, but the bulk of it resulted from 

 the concentration of purse seiners in Southern California. In actual prac- 

 tice, the fleet fished for jack mackerel, sardines, and Pacific mackerel 

 indiscriminately, taking whichever they could find. In fact, the schools 

 were usually mixed, many hauls including all three species. 



Figure 11. California landings of Pacific mackerel and jack mackerel, from 1938 

 through 1947. While the catches of Pacific mackerel have declined during the last sev- 

 eral years, the once unimportant jack mackerel has achieved a leading position among 



California fisheries 



Considerable quantities of both species of mackerel were shipped 

 from the south to Monterey for canning during the 1947-48 season. 



Young jack mackerel were very numerous, and the catches con- 

 tained a high proportion of fish hatched only a few months previously. 

 In order to afford some protection to these baby fish, as well as to young 



