128 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
become such an article of food among the Italians of New York that 
we can obtain better prices by shipping them there, than by selling 
them for bait.” 
From the foregoing, it would appear that with the increase of popu- 
lation in this country and with a better knowledge of the food value of 
certain species of marine animals which have heretofore not come into 
general use, it is supposable that the food supply from our ocean fisher- 
ies can be very considerably increased. Some species of fish that are 
held in the highest esteem in Europe, and which occur in the greatest 
abundance off our coasts, are seldom or never eaten by Americans, and 
there is practically no demand for them in our markets. Perhaps the 
most noted of these is the Skate (Baia), while many species of the flat- 
fishes — flounders, dabs, etc. — are so little prized that their capture is a 
matter of minor commercial consequence. 
Washington, D. 0., April 20, 1888. 
41. — NOTE ON THE OCCURRENCE OF MACKEREL OFF THE COAST 
OF FLORIDA. 
By J. W. COLLINS. 
Capt. John W. Emmons, master of the schooner Belle of the Bay , of 
New London, Conn., recently arrived in New York from a winter’s fish- 
ing cruise for Red Snappers on the grounds off of Cape Canaveral, 
Florida. He fished in that region from December 12, 1887, to April 14, 
1888. In a conversation which I had with him three days ago, he stated 
that during January of the present year he saw several schools of mack- 
erel in the vicinity of Cape Canaveral, but chiefly about 15 to 25 miles 
southeast from the cape, and that as many as one hundred specimens 
of the fish were caught by his crew on the fishing gear used for the capt- 
ure of Red Snappers. These mackerel were from 12 to 15 inches in 
length. The captain is confident that they were all of the common 
species, Scombe r scombrus . 
Although he frequently saw schools of mackerel, he is of the opinion 
that purse-seines could not be used because of the abundance of sharks, 
which would tear the nets to pieces. 
Washington, April 25, 1888. 
