MOVEMENTS OF THE MACKEREL SCHOOLS. 287 



southern coast of New England, and as far east as Southern Nova Scotia, while in the Gulf of Saint 

 Lawrence they appear late in May, and in abundance early in June.' 



There appears to be a marked difference between the movements of Mackerel and the menhaden, 

 for while the menhaden are much more gradual in their approach to the shore, and much more 

 dependent upon a small rise of temperature, the Mackerel make their appearance almost simul- 

 taneously in all the waters from New Jersey to Nova Scotia at about the same time. Stragglers, 

 of course, appear much earlier than the dates just mentioned; a few Mackerel were observed at 

 Waquoit, Massachusetts, as early as April 19, 1871. 



In the fall the Mackerel disappear as suddenly as they caime in the spring, but they have only 

 in one instance been observed off the Carolina coast, except during the spring run. This is very 

 probably because no fishing vessels ever visit this region later than June. 



The instance referred to is the experience of Mr. Peter Sinclair, a well-known fisherman of 

 Gloucester, who states that he has frequently taken them in great abundance off Cape Hatteras in 

 December, where they are not known at all in the summer season. He has found them in the 

 spring as far south as Charleston, and followed them from Cape Henry to the Bay of Pundy and 

 the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. 



The very vagueness of the statements just made is evidence to show how little is actually 

 known about the movements of these fish. The subject must be studied long and carefully before 

 it can be understood, and the interests of the American fishermen demand that it should be thus 

 studied. 



"There is," writes Professor Baird, "no very satisfactory evidence of the occurrence of Mack- 

 erel in the winter or any other season south of Cape Hatteras, and it is not given by Poey and 

 other writers as occurring in the West Indies. A few Mackerel are said to be occasionally brought 

 into the Charleston market, and Mr. Moses Tarr, of Gloucester, thinks that some years ago he saw 

 in the early part of March, a short distance to the southeast of Key West, a large school of Mack- 

 erel. He, however, did uot capture any, and it is more likely that the fish observed belonged to 

 some other small species of the mackerel family which occasionally school like the Mackerel itself, 

 and might easily be mistaken for it. The skip-jack or leather-back may possibly have been the 

 species referred to. 



" I have been quite surprised to find the extent of belief among Massachusetts fishermen that 

 the Mackerel goes into the mud in the winter time. I have, indeed, been assured by trustworthy 

 parties that they have known Mackerel caught on eel spears when fishing for eels in the mud of 

 Provincetown harbor. 



"A similar belief is referred to by Dr. Gilpin in his paper on the Mackerel in the Transactions 

 of the Nova Scotia Scientific Association, and it is difilcult to refuse assent to the testimony of 

 otherwise credible observers. There is nothing apparently in the economy of the Mackerel to pre- 

 vent its following the example of the sand lance, the eel, and other fish. We know that the 



'The following letter from the skipper of the schooner •' Edward E. Webster" is important, in that it gives the 

 exact positions as well as the dates of some of the earliest captures in 1878, '79, '80, and '81 : 



New York, April 23, 1881. 

 Captain Collins: 



Dear Sir: I have just received your letter of March 14, in which you wanted to know whereabouts I caught my 

 first Mackerel. The first catch in 1878, April 16, lat. 36° 10' N., long. 74° 45' W. ; in 1879, April ]2, lat. 36° 35' N., 

 long. 74° 50' W. ; in 1880, April 1, lat. 35° 30' N., long. 74° 15' W.; in 1881, March 20, lat. 37° 10' N., long. 74° 05' 

 W. ; and this trip wo got them April 18 in lat. 38° 38' N., and long. 74° 00' W. This is our second trip this season. 

 I have seen Mackerel in lat. 35° 15' N. and long. 73° 46' W., which is the farthest south I have ever seen any. I 

 have been off Cape Lookout many times, but have never seen Mackerel there. . . . 

 Yours, truly, 



Solomon Jacobs. 



