1644 Fishes. 



Notes on the Fishes of the District of the Land's End. 

 By R. Q. Couch, Esq., M.R.C.S.L., &c. 



The Pilchard, Clupea pilchardus. That portion of the history of 

 this fish which may be considered general, as well as the modes by 

 which it is captured on the Cornish shores, have been so fully 

 described in Yarrell's * British Fishes,' and in several Papers in the 

 ' Transactions of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society,' that they 

 hardly need be more than alluded to again. Our chief attention will 

 be directed to its habits and migrations, as exhibited within our 

 prescribed limits. This western portion of Cornwall must be consi- 

 dered as the chief seat of the pilchard fishery, and St. Ives as the 

 head quarters. From the number of men engaged in the pursuit, and 

 from the locality being very favourable for observations, the migra- 

 tions can be more carefully watched than in any other part of the 

 county. Deriving my information from the persons engaged in the 

 fishery, and daily noting the exact spots in which the fish were taken, 

 their course has been tolerably clearly ascertained. These notes, 

 however, extend over the three years of 1844, 1845 and 1846. On a 

 review of these records, I think there can be no doubt that the 

 pilchard remains on some part of the Cornish shores throughout the 

 year, and that it does not perform those extensive migrations formerly 

 thought to have occurred. 1 have seen pilchards taken from the 

 stomach of the hake, cod, and other predaceous fishes, during the 

 winter and spring, and have seen them taken in the mackerel-nets in 

 the spring and summer, on the western fishing-grounds, including 

 Mount's Bay ; and as the fishery is an autumnal one, their presence 

 throughout the year is very clearly ascertained. In the spring 

 mackerel-nets they are repeatedly taken ; and early in summer small 

 flocks or " schulls " are frequently seen sporting at the surface of the 

 water. Towards the latter part of summer the regular fishery begins, 

 and it is continued till late in the autumn on the southern shores ; 

 and at St. Ives, on the northern coast, large catches are annually made 

 about October and November, and sometimes in December. They 

 are most rarely seen during the latter part of winter, and very early in 

 spring ; then they are in deep water, on the south-western parts of 

 Cornwall, and at the entrance to the English Channel, and to the 

 south and west of the Scilly Islands. At this time they swim deep, 

 rising in proportion to the fineness of the weather, and their course is 

 generally in a westerly direction, being most commonly taken on the 



