MAI/ATA2sr FISHEa 



MACKERELS, TUNNJES, ETC. 



{8C0MBRIDAE.) 



The fifhe& of the Mackerel " family are pekiiic foTms, abiin- 

 tlant Ui all tiie seas of tht? tropical aud temfH-TJite zoiie^. They 

 tntvel al>out in shoals, spawn in the open sea, bnt jieTJodioally up- 

 proat'h the ishore in pursuit of other fishes on which they feed. 



Our mo.st iinp(jrt4int local mem!)eT:! of thii? family are the 

 Pel at a (Siamese pla thu) (Scomber murukpidotvs)^ the Tong- 

 kol {Thifiihtiii thunmna) and tln> Tenggiri (('f/huim epp,). 



The Pelata if a fish of great oomniercifll dinportance in Siam 

 and on the East Coast, where it is extensively salted and dried for 

 esport. 



The Totigkol is the MmIav generic term for the Tunny anil, 

 I believe, for the 3onit() als^o. Thesie fish ^lives excellent sport when 

 they are on the feefl but often one see? a school of those Ssh jump- 

 ing and disport ins? tlieinsehe,^, and on guoh ocf^asions they aeem to 

 disdain tJie bait wiiitli is "trolled " pa.st them. 



The Tenggiri ie, in my ojiinion, the h^st fii?h in our water-i. 

 The bestihoth from a sportinisr and from an edible |>oiut of view, hut 

 I may be jirejudieed in it^ favour bet'flUv*ie T Imve hud more sport 

 with this fisli than with any other, Seale^ g^ives eorroborative 

 evidenee a^s to it^ edible qualities as follows* *^ In this family is 

 the tanguingue, whieh i's a irue S|>flnish Mackerel, By nianv 

 people ihir! is regarded as the finest food tisli in the Philippine 

 waters^" 



A reeent visitor to Singapore from Queensland told me that 

 he had had great eport with these fish on thi? Barrier Heef and that 

 tliey attftined a weight of 100 pounds. 



The big fisli stay out in deejj water and the be-t time to take 

 them is during the E, monsoon. The hest Imit is a whole fish 

 jibout 8 or ^ inches long, and at least 100 or 150 yard^ of line should 

 be run off the reel, so ne to keep the l)ait a long way astern as you 

 sail along in & good breeze- 



When maJsing a passage in a heavy sea with no time for rod 

 fishing we used to boom out as many as five brass wire lines and 

 perhaps hm two or three fish on at once averaging 130 pounds or 

 so. 



When onr fisheries are better nnderstood and depots witii re- 

 frigerating plant are established on the i&^Iands off the East coast, 

 more att-ention will certainly be paid to our oceanic fished. Sea 

 going fishing smacke should do a good trade with catches of Bonito, 

 Tunny tind Spanish mackerel. 



One of the Spanish mackerels in America is one of the mosst 

 highly esteemed of all 2\merican fishes ami always commands a high 

 price. Stead mentions that the catch in amounted to 



1,183,456 pounds, woith nearly £14.000* 



» Fishery Teeoarces of the PhilippLoes, 



