118 EEPOET OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



the babits of iish a special study. Sir, if aoy other matter npou which 

 there were more than 11,000 uaines on the petitions and remonstrances 

 should come before tlie legislature, what would the committee expect I 

 They would expect that experts and men acquainted with all the prac- 

 tical workings would come before them. An ordinary committee on 

 the fisheries might expect men to come before them on a subject of so 

 much importance as our sea-fisheries^ that possessed a knowledge of the 

 geographical distribution, migrations, habits, food, time of depositing 

 their spawn, growth and development of their young, as far as it could 

 be known, and, besides, all the changes that have taken place during a 

 long series of years. That if certain species had diminished in Buzzard's 

 Bay, from whatever cause, is there danger of the race being extermi- 

 nated f The fishes that inhabit our waters, and in their migrations 

 visit our coast, differ widely from those that Avere upon our fishing- 

 grounds when I first engaged in the fisheries. 



Mr. President, allow me to lay aside the evidence before the commit- 

 tee, while I briefly allude to the changes that I have noticed during a 

 long life of practical exj^erience in the fisheries. 



I can go back to no earlier date than 3816, when I entered the fishing 

 boat and followed fishing as a business for a period of fifty-one years, 

 during w^hich time there have been many changes. I shall speak of only 

 a few species. The scup that has been so abundant for many years south 

 of Cape Cod, extends to Florida, and is caught in great numbers along 

 the coast. It finds a ready sale in New York and other markets, but in 

 Boston market it is not known as a marketable species, and is seldom 

 seen there. Only afew^ straggling specimens venture into the colder waters 

 north of Gape (3od. Witnesses stated before the committee that they 

 had a tradition informing them that scup first apx^eared in Buzzard's 

 Bay in 1793. If so, I ask was it then that they first came into existence, 

 or did they come from some other locality? I have been informed that 

 in examining the old shell-heaps that have been deposited by the abor- 

 igines of this country many years ago, the bones of this species have 

 been found, showing that they were here before this country was settled 

 by Europeans. If they AA^ere here at that time, is it to be supposed that 

 they w^ere driven away by the Indians Avith their rude implements of 

 fishing'? 



When I first engaged in the fisheries, and for many years after, there 

 was a species of mackerel that annually a isited our Avaters, known by 

 the name of Si)anish mackerel, that were abundant. It Avas not the 

 species now^ called by that name. It was about two-thirds tlie size of a 

 common mackerel, knoAvn to science by the name of Scomber JDehiyi. 

 (Excuse me for using classic names, I do it for the reason that there 

 are so many local names for the same species, I fear that 1 may not bo 

 understood by any Avho may be acquainted with ichthyological science.) 

 This species, although plentiful for many years, has long since disai>- 

 peared, and I have not seen a single specimen for the last twenty years. 

 They disappeared long before a weir, trap, or pound was used in our Mas- 

 sachusetts Avaters. The cause of tlu^ir leaving us is unknoAvn. AVe can 

 assign no reason. There have also been great clianges in our common 

 mackerel. While in some years they come to us in great abundance, in 

 other years they are comparatively scarce. In 1831, 385,551) barrels Avere 

 packed and inspected in this State, after Avhich there Avas a falling olf in 

 the catch, so much so that from 1839 to 1841 the number of barrels 

 caught did not exceed 75,000 in any one year, for five years in succession. 

 In 1841 the quantity caught Avas only 50,991* barrels. They have since 

 increased. During the last ten years the catch has been, with the excep- 



