THE SPANISH MACKEREL FISHERY. 551 
only a few hundred cans having been prepared. Recently, at the suggestion of Professor Baird, 
experiments were made in canning the Spanish mackerel at Cherrystone, Va., for the purpose of 
ascertaining their relative value as compared with other kinds of canned fis. The report from 
the canneries is to the effect that they were no better than fish of ordinary grades, though there 
seems to be a difference of opinion on the subject. However this may be, there is certainly no 
prospect of an extensive business either in the salting or canning of the species, as the demand 
for the fresh mackerel is sufficient to offer an outlet for all that can be secured; while the price 
ranges so high as to make their canning or salting entirely impracticable. 
As a fresh fish, the Spanish mackerel has few equals. It is one of the most valuable species 
taken in the United States, and is a great favorite with epicures. The price paid for the species 
in the different markets is often extravagant. Instances are not uncommon where the wholesale 
price has exceeded $1 per pound. The first fish sent to New York in the spring usually sell as 
high as 75 cents a pound, and the price does not fall far below 60 cents for some time; but as the 
quantity increases the price is gradually reduced, until, at times of oversupply, when the market 
becomes glutted, they occasionally sell as low as 6 or 7 cents a pound. The average wholesale 
price in New York i in 1880, for all grades, is said to have been about 18 cents a pound. Mr. C. W. 
Smiley, who has made a careful study of the Philadelphia market, puts the average price for that 
city at 163 cents per pound during the same period. The fish taken in the northern waters reach 
the market in much better condition than those shipped from a distance, and for this reason they 
sell more readily and at better figures. They are, as a rule, much larger and fatter than those 
taken in Chesapeake Bay; this fact alone making considerable difference in their value. While 
the Virginia fish are selling in New York at 15 cents, the ldtger ones from Sandy Hook and Long 
Island frequently bring more than twice as much. 
Many of the fishermen of the lower Chesapeake do not ship their own fish, but sell to the 
dealers in Norfolk and other places at 7 to 10 cents apiece. Others pack in ice and ship directly 
to Baltimore by steamer, but as their facilities for packing and shipping are limited, the amount 
realized, after deducting the numerous expenses, is little, if any, in advance of that received by 
parties selling in Norfolk. 
The principal marketg, in their order of importance, are Baltimore, New York, Norfolk, and 
Philadelphia; from these points the catch is distributed to the larger cities of the country, where 
the fish are consumed by the wealthy classes, few going into the country towns of the interior. 
Few cities keep any accurate statistics of their fish trade, and for this reason it is impossible to 
give the quantity of mackerel handled by their dealers. No figures can be given for the Baltimore 
trade, though it is safe to say that the dealers of that city handle fully three-fourths of a million 
pounds annually. The report of the New York Fish-Mongers’ Association shows that 274,913 
pounds were handled in that city in 1878. This quantity, according to the same authority, was 
«,inereased to 309,168 in 1879, and to 390,000 pounds in 1880. Mr. Smiley, in his report on the 
Philadelphia market for 1880, places the quantity of Spanish mackerel handled at 65,880 pounds, 
valued at $10,870. Mr. W. A. Wilcox, secretary of the Boston Fish Burean, estimates the quantity 
handled in Boston in 1879 at 15,865 pounds, while that in 1880 was about 20,000 pounds. 
5. STATISTICS OF THE FISHERY. 
It is not possible to state the exact quantity of Spanish mackerel taken by the fishermen of 
the United States during any season, but a careful study of the fisheries in the interests of the 
Fish Commission and Census enable us to give the following table, compiled from the preliminary 
statistical reports prepared by Ool. Marshall McDonald, Mr. A. Howard Clark, and the writer, for 
