USES OP THE SOUP. 380 



this fish coincided with that of the absence of the bluefish, and since the return of the latter to 

 the coast of N'ew England the Scup has become scarce, although still a very important object of 

 pursuit. 



"Immense numbers are caught in the pounds and traps in Ehode Island and Massachusetts, 

 and for several weeks the market is usually glutted, a barrelful being frequently sold for twenty- 

 five to fifty cents, or a small fraction of a cent a pound. It is extremely doubtful whether any 

 part of the more northern coast of North America can furnish, within three miles of the shore, as 

 large a weight of fish in mackerel, herring, and cod as has been furnished by the Scjup, sea-bass, 

 and tautog alone in the waters of^Ehode Island and Massachusetts. Mr. William Davol, of Ehode 

 Island, with his 'gang,' caught 2,400 barrels of Scup, valued at $1,200, at Seconnet, in May, 1860. 

 Fish were purchased by Messrs. Eeynolds, Young & Co., of Fall Elver, and shipped to Philadelphia.^ 



"The Scup is a fish that grows with rapidity, and at two years is almost of sufiicient size to be 

 marketable. Throughout the summer young fish of the spring spawning are to be seen floating 

 around in the eel-grass and over the sandy bottoms, having attained a length of from two and a 

 half to three and a quarter inches by the 1st of October. When these fish reappear the next 

 season, thus completing one year of existence, they measure about six inches, six to eight or nine 

 weighing a pound; and by the 1st of September attain an average length of eight inches, includ- 

 ing the tail, and a breadth of three inches. (Twelve individuals, measured on the 31st of August, 

 measured from 7.75 to 9 inches in length, and from 2.75 to 3.25 inches in breadth, not including 

 the dorsal and anal fins.) On the 8th of September twenty-five of this age weighed four and three- 

 quarter pounds, or an average of little over three ounces each. In the third year of existence, or 

 at the age of two years, they have increased considerably, though not so rapidly as was once 

 supposed, measuring, on their reappearance, about ten inches, with an average weight of one-half 

 pound. Six weighed in I^Tew Bedford, October 9, averaged but little over five ounces each, while 

 the average of those on the stalls in New York, October 17, was a little over eight ounces. After 

 this they grow more quickly. One hundred and ninety -nine, presumed to be three years' fish, 

 weighed on the 6th of September, averaged one and a half pounds each, and measured about 

 twelve inches in length by four and a half inches in width, some individuals being larger and some 

 smaller. The female fish of the second year not unfrequently contains mature eggs. It is in the 

 fifth year, or after the lapse of four years from birth, that the Scup presents its finest development; 

 specimens believed to be of this age measured fourteen or fifteen inches by five to six inches or 

 more, with a weight of two and a half to three pounds. They, however, still continue to grow, 

 specimens being not unfrequently met with eighteen inches long, and weighing four pounds and 

 even more. The dimensions may belong to fish of six or more years of age; more probably, however, 

 of five years. It is, of course, impossible to do more than give average estimates of the weight and 

 size of fish of the same age, the differences probably depending on the fact whether they were 

 spawned by old or young fish, and the period when the eggs were laid, this extending over a con- 

 siderable length of time in each locality, although the great majority of fish undoubtedly spawn 

 at nearly the same season. 



"Abundant as the Scup has been during the greater part of the present century, there 

 appears to be good evidence to show that prior to the year 1800 there was at least one period, if 

 not more, when it was extremely rare. According to Mr. Southwick (page 11), there is a tradition 

 that they first occurred at Newport about 1793, the sheepshead disappearing about the same time. 

 Mr. Lyman, in an article on the possible exhaustion of the sea fisheries, written in 1871, also 



» PaU Eiver News, 1860. 



