68 BRITISH IND USTRIES. 



English and Irish coasts. Mackerel appear at first in 

 deep water on the south and south-west of the British 

 Islands, and are caught sometimes as early as January, 

 sixty miles west of the Land's End. The general 

 Cornish fishery, however, usually commences about the 

 end of February, and lasts till some time in June. 

 May, June, and July are, probably, the most produc- 

 tive months for mackerel fishing by drift-nets on the 

 English coast. After the mackerel have spawned, 

 which they do for the most part in June and early in 

 July, the process taking place at the surface, as is well 

 authenticated, the shoals disperse, and the fish, then 

 readily taking a bait, are caught in large numbers by 

 hook and line. At this time, also, they come very near 

 the land, and consequently within reach of numbers of 

 persons who fish only for amusement. The time when 

 this popular sport is most successful is during the 

 month of August, but it frequently lasts far into Sep- 

 tember along our western coast. Half-grown fish are 

 also caught at times in the herring drift-nets off 

 Hastings in October and November. 



The mackerel fishery on the Scotch coasts is very 

 unimportant, and drift-nets for the purpose are, so far 

 as I know, unused there. A few mackerel are caught 

 in Lochfyne and near the mouth of the Clyde in 

 August, but only by the sean. The mackerel season 

 at the Isle of Man is from June to August, but the 

 fishery there again is not of much importance. 



It is very different, however, when we come to the 

 south of Ireland ; and I am glad to say, that the 

 Kinsale fishery has for some years been of considerable 



