118 EEPOET OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



the habits of fish a special study. Sir, if any other matter upon which 

 there were more than 11,000 names on the petitions and remonstrances 

 should come before the legislature, what would the committee expect? 

 They would expect that experts and men acquainted with all the prac- 

 tical workings would come before them. An ordinary committee on 

 the fisheries might expect men to come before them on a subject of so 

 much importance as our sea-fisheries, that possessed a knowledge of the 

 geographical distribution, migrations, habits, food, time of depositing 

 their spawn, growth and development of their young, as far as it could 

 be known, and, besides, all the changes that have taken place during a 

 long series of years. That if certain species had diminished in Buzzard's 

 Bay, from whatever cause, is there danger of the race being extermi- 

 nated 1 ? The fishes that inhabit our waters, and in their migrations 

 visit our coast, differ widely from those that were upon our fishing- 

 grounds when I first engaged in the fisheries. 



Mr. President, allow me to lay aside the evidence before the commit- 

 tee, while I briefly allude to the changes that I have noticed during a 

 long life of practical experience in the fisheries. 



I can go back to no earlier date than 1816, when I entered the fishing 

 boat and followed fishing as a business for a period of fifty-one years, 

 during which time there have been many changes. I shall speak of only 

 a few species. The scup that has been so abundant for many years south 

 of Cape Cod, extends to Florida, and is caught in great numbers along 

 tbe coast. It finds a ready sale in New York and other markets, but in 

 Boston market it is not known as a marketable species, and is seldom 

 seen there. Only afewstragglingspecimens venture into the colder waters 

 north of Cape Cod. Witnesses stated before the committee that they 

 had a tradition informing them that scup first appeared in Buzzard's 

 Bay in 1793. If so, I ask was it then that they first came into existence, 

 or did they come from some other locality? I have been informed that 

 in examining the old shell-heaps that have been deposited by the abor- 

 igines of this country many years ago, the bones of this species have 

 been found, showing that they were here before this country was settled 

 by Europeans. If they were here at that time, is it to be supposed that 

 they were driven away by the Indians with their rude implements of 

 fishing % 



When I first engaged in the fisheries, and for many years after, there 

 was a ^peeies of mackerel that annually visited our waters, known by 

 the name of Spanish mackerel, that were abundant. It was not the 

 species now called by that name. It was about two-thirds the size of a 

 common mackerel, known to science by the name of Scomber Dekayi. 

 (Excuse me for using classic names, I do it for the reason that there 

 are so many local names for the same species, I fear that I may not be 

 understood by any who may be acquainted with ichthyological science.) 

 This species, although plentiful for many years, has long since disap- 

 peared, and I have not seen a single specimen for the last twenty years. 

 They disappeared long before a weir, trap, or pound was used in our Mas- 

 sachusetts waters. The cause of their leaving us is unknown. We can 

 assign no reason. There have also been great changes in our common 

 mackerel. While in some years they come to us in great abundance, in 

 other years they are comparatively scarce. In 1831, 385,551) barrels were 

 packed and inspected in this State, after which there was a falling off in 

 the catch, so much so that from 1839 to 1811 the number of barrels 

 caught did not exceed 75,000 in any one year, for five years in succession. 

 In 1841 the quantity caught was only 50,992 barrels. They have since 

 increased. During the last ten years the catch has been, with the excep- 



