EEPEODUCTION OF THE MACKEREL. 295 



end of Long Island to Eastport, Maine, along the coast of Nova Scotia, and in the Gulf of Saint 

 Lawrence. The spawning season occurs Iti May in Southern ISTew England, in May and June in 

 Massachusetts Bay, and in June in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, and on the Bradley Banks and 

 about the Magdalenes early in the month, and, according to Hind, on the northeast coast of New- 

 foundland toward the end of the month.^ 



Capt. Benjamin Ashby, of Noank, Connecticut, states that in the spring of 1877 Mackerel 

 spawned in great numbers in Vineyard Sound and Buzzard's Bay. Many Mackerel were taken in 

 the pounds, and the eggs were so ripe that when the fish were thrown from the net to the boat the 

 eggs escaped to such an extent that in cleaning out the boat afterwards he found at least half a 

 bushel at the bottom. This was as early as the 2d of May, ; nd continued through the month. 



Capt. R. H. Hurlbert, of Gloucester, found the spawn running out of Mackerel taken off Kettle 

 Island, south of Cape Ann, in May and June. 



Capt. Henry Webb, who owns a weir on Milk Island, under the shadow of the Thatcher's 

 Island lights, obtains many Mackerel every year in his nets. He informs me that when they first 

 make their appearance, about the first of June, the spawn is running out of them, and many of 

 them are half through the process of spawning. The eggs will spurt from a female fish in a stream 

 six feet long, and there is a large percentage of females in the catch, probably two-thirds of the 

 whole. The spawn begins to dry up after the first of August, and young fish begin to appear 

 about the 4th of August. He thinks that it takes Mackerel four or five weeks to spawn; after 

 that they begin to grow fat, and when they are fat there is no sign of spawn to be seen, the male 

 and female not being distinguishable. 



The growth is rapid, and in about seven weeks the young fish are about four or five inches 

 long. 



Mackerel spawn abundantly in Grover's Beach at a depth of one and a half to two fathoms. 

 The eggs are very minute, and the old Mackerel feed upon them greedily. 



Captain Fisher, of Portland, Maine, told me, in 1874, that when. the Mackerel come in they 

 are almost empty and have a muddy taste. They first engage in spawning, but toward the last of 

 June they have finished and begin to grow fat. 



'During the entire month of June Mackerel are taken in the Bay of Saint Lawrence with roes fully developed. 

 Having been engaged in the Mackerel fishery in the Gulf for twenty-two consecutive seasons, ten of which I went to 

 the Bay early in June, I have therefore had abundant opportunity to learn the spawning season of the Mackerel in 

 that region. It is my opinion thjit Mackerel spawn in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence some time between the 1st and the 

 15th of July. Have caught them in abundance and full of roe as late as the 4th and 5th of July, and it is exceedingly 

 rare to find spent Mackerel previous to the 20th of June. In the period when hook-aud-Iine fishing was most prosper- 

 ous, the fishermen usually planned to leave the Gulf about the first week in July if they had succeeded in getting nearly 

 a fare of Mackerel previous to that time, since while the fish were spawning, or between the 1st and the 15th of the 

 month, but little could be done, as the Mackerel would not readily take the hook. The fishermen, therefore, knowing 

 that they could catch few fish during this period, between "hay and grass," as they termed it, usually improved the 

 opportunity thus afforded of making their passage home and refitting for another trip with comparatively little loss 

 of time. Apparently one of the most favorite breeding grounds for Mackerel in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence is the 

 area along the shores of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island (on the north side of the latter) lying inside of a 

 line drawn from North Cape to Point Miscou. Bank Bradley is also a breeding ground for Mackerel of considerable 

 importance. The fish seemed to assemble on the grounds mentioned above during June, in a depth varying from 

 three to forty fathoms. The greater part, however, were found in a depth varying from ten to twenty fathoms. The 

 spawning season being over, they usually stay on the same grounds, though later in the summer and during autumn 

 the Mackerel were abundant around the Magdalenes and the bend of Prince Edward Island ; when the fall migration 

 takes place they move farther south. It is probable that large numbers of Mackerel may deposit their spawn around 

 Magdalene Island, though it is worthy of note that but few or no fish have been taken in that locality on hook and 

 line during the month of June. Considerable quantities are, however, caught by the gill-net fishermen early in June, 

 though the catch was small compared with that formerly obtained by hook-and-line fishing in the western part of the 

 Bay.— J. W. Collins. 



