BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 75 
6th, 13th, and 2d of that month. From 1881 to 1885, inclusive, the 
first catches were made in March, these being obtained in 1881 on the 
22d, in the three following years on the 31st, and in 1885 on the 28th. 
Last year the first fish were seined on the 10th of April. 
The vessels fishing on George’s during the present month have re- 
ported finding several good-sized mackerel in the stomachs of the cod- 
fish. At its last session Congress passed a bill prohibiting the landing 
or importation of mackerel caught prior to June 1. This bill goes into 
effect next season, and continues in operation for five years. This is, 
therefore, the last season for some time during which the spring mack- 
erel fishing can be prosecuted. 
During the month numerous traps and weirs have been put in fishing 
order along various portions of the New England coast, these being 
intended to supply the vessel-fishermen with bait, although many will 
ship their catch fresh to be used for food. 
The receipts of halibut have been much below those of April, 1886; 
those landed at Gloucester being chiefly from the fishing grounds off 
Sable Island. Halibut are also reported to have been quite abundant 
off Nantucket Shoals. 
Fish landed at Gloucester by the fishing fleet in April, 1887. 
Fishing grounds. 
Number of 
fares. 
Codfish. 
Halibut. 
Haddock. 
Herring. 
By Gloucester vessels : 
George’s Bank 
Off Sable Island 
Grand Bank 
Western Bank 
Brown’s Bank 
Banquereau 
Ipswich Bay 
Off Cape Ann 
Bay of Fundy 
New England shore (small boats) . 
New England shore (traps) • 
Total 
By vessels belonging at other ports :t 
Off Cape Ann 
Ipswich Bay 
Jeffrey’s Bank 
Total. 
Total for April, 1887 
Total for April, 1886 
Total for April, 1885 
101 
11 
8 
42 
2 
1 
15 
Pounds. 
1, 806, 500 
1, 592, 000 
40 , 000 
88, 100 
434, 600 
Pounds. 
96, 400 
376. 000 
192. 000 
60, 200 
3, 500 
16, 000 
Pounds. 
78, 000 
Number. 
69, 550 
40, 000 
12, 200 
271 
4, 001, 200 
744, 100 
159, 750 
49, 100 
68, 000 
10, 000 
7, 400 
22 
127, 100 
7, 400 
293 
212 
250 
4, 128, 300 
744, 100 
167, 150 
4, 214, 900 
4, 592, 000 
1, 303, 600 
978, 710 
155, 000 
185, 000 
*180, 000 
39, 000 
219, 000 
219, 000 
* Frozen. 
t These fish were landed by the following schooners : David A. Osier, of Matinicus, Me. ; B. A. 
Baker, of Jonesboro’, Me. ; Grace Choate, and Comet, of Portsmouth, N. H. ; E. A. Williams, and 
Julia A., of Boston; Florence Nightingale, and Mary Story, of Swampscott, Mass. ; Edith L. Conley, 
of Rockport, Mass. ; and Eliza, of Marblehead, Mass. 
Note. — The miscellaneous receipts from other ports during the month consisted of 6,183 boxes of 
smoked herring from Maine. 
Gloucester, Mass., June 15, 1887. 
