BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 241 
NOTES ON TEE CRUISE OF THE GRAMPUS ON THE SOUTHERN MACK- 
EREL GROUNDS DURING THE SPRING FISHERY. OF 1887, BY TABLE- 
TON H. BEAN. 
The first voyage of the Grampus was made during the latter part of 
March and the early part of April well to the southward, and resulted 
in the discovery of the first mackerel of the season April 8, off Smith’s 
Island, in Chesapeake Bay, north latitude 37° 14/, west longitude 74° 
39'. Besides mackerel, the gill-nets captured alewives and menhaden, 
and collections of the minute crustaceans, on which mackerel are known 
to subsist, were taken in towing-nets. At the end of the first voyage 
the Grampus came to Fortress Monroe, where the writer joined her, 
April 20, to make further collections of marine fishes and of the surface 
invertebrates upon which the fishes feed, with especial reference to the 
mackerel, the bluefish, and the menhaden. It was also part of our 
duties to seek new fishing grounds and to collect birds and other asso- 
ciates of the mackerek 
The vessel was temporarily commanded by Capt. D. E. Collins, who has 
obtained the information given below with reference to the movements of 
the fleet and the localities in which catches of mackerel were made. The 
Grampus was supplied with towing-nets, gill-nets, lines of various kinds, 
and with toll- bait for luring fish. She had also a very liberal outfit of 
apparatus for general collecting, including nearly everything carried by 
sea going exploring vessels, with the exception of the beam trawl. 
The instructions to the Grampus involved her cruising primarily with 
the fishing fleet after the mackerel had been located, but she was ex- 
pected also to look independently outside of the limits occupied by the 
fleet to ascertain whether or not mackerel could be found in advance 
of the fishing centers, or in any other direction outside, inside, or be- 
hind the position of the fleet. 
During the early portion of the fishing season the vessel extended 
her researches southward almost to Cape Hatteras, but she caught no 
mackerel until the 8th of April, off Chesapeake Bay. The investiga- 
tion was continued northward to Vineyard Sound, closing at Wood’s 
Holl, May 31. 
AREA INVESTIGATED BY THE GRAMPUS. 
From April 22 to May 2 the cruising ground was from north latitude 
37° Iff to 38° 24', wost longitude 75° 20' to 73° 5ff. From May 5 to 
May 16 we sailed over the region from north latitude 37° 45' to 39° 20', 
west longitude 74° 36' to 73° 19'. From May 19 to May 31 we were 
cruising offshore between Five Fathom Bank light-ship (entrance to 
Delaware Bay) and Vineyard Sound, keeping generally within the area 
occupied by the fleet. 
Bull. U. S. F. C., 87 16 
