REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. XCV 
tinue present until about tbe 12tli or 15th of June, when, the water 
becoming too warm for their comfort, they strike offshore. They are 
most abundant in May, being found near the shore on gravelly or 
stony bottoms, sometimes in small schools and occasionally associated 
with young pollock. During the springs of 1887, 1888, and 1889 they 
were plentiful about the wharves at Wood’s Holl, remaining there until 
about the middle of May, when the dinners arrive. They leave the 
harbors earlier than they do the open shores of Vineyard Sound. May 
8, 1888, Mr. Edwards estimates that there were at least 25 barrels of 
young cod, from 2 to 3 inches long, in one of the fish pounds which he 
examined in the neighborhood of Wood’s Holl, and a bucket full was 
secured in a single scoop with an ordinary dip net. They had been 
equally abundant for a week previous, and their number did not ap- 
parently diminish during the succeeding ten days, when Mr. Edwards 
visited the same pound every morning. In other traps near at hand 
they were also very plentiful. This great display of young cod has, 
moreover, manifested itself during every spring since the winter of 
1885-86, both in Vineyard Sound and in Buzzard Bay, the fish remaining 
near where they were planted until the rise in temperature drives them 
into deeper and cooler water. 
During the spring of 1889 from 10 to 12 cod, measuring about 15 
inches long, were taken nearly every morning in each of the fish pounds 
distributed through the sound between Vineyard Haven and Gay Head. 
It was the first season that fish of that size had ever been captured in 
the traps. It is the opinion of Mr. Edwards that the year-old cod will 
not approach the shore in the immediate vicinity of Wood’s Holl, but 
will^con tinue to frequent the more open waters of the sound and bay, 
and especially the region about Gay Head and Cuttyhunk, where the 
fishermen report them abundant during each spring and fall. Informa- 
tion received since July 1, 1889, indicates, however, that Jhe fish of the 
earlier plantings are returning to the shallow waters in much greater 
numbers than seemed possible from the previous observations. 
MISCELLANEOUS FISHES, ETC. 
The excellent facilities afforded by the Wood’s Holl Station for 
observations and experiments relative to the propagation of all kinds 
of marine fishes, in addition to the cod and lobster, have been put to 
use during the past few years, with most valuable and interesting 
results. The most important species for immediate consideration have 
been the scup and sea bass, both of which are the objects of an exten- 
sive local fishery, and were formerly much more abundant than they 
are at present. The mackerel also spawns in the vicinity of Wood’s 
Holl, where its eggs may be obtained with little trouble. These and 
several other species breed in the spring and early summer, and the 
majority have floating eggs whose transformations are completed within a 
very brief period, the cod apparatus being well adapted to their hatching. 
