290 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
breaking of essential parts of the net, and several other causes contribute to the 
making of a relatively large number of “stabs,” as such failures are called. The 
J. W. Hawkins had 96 and the Arizona and Quickstep 36 “ stabs.” 
KINDS AND NUMBERS OF OTHER FISH TAKEN. 
The extensive areas covered by these vessels, the size of the seines used, and the 
frequency with which the hauls were made, would naturally be expected to yield a 
large variety of fishes that were among or adjacent to the schools of menhaden. An 
analysis of the records shows that there were taken with the menhaden some sixty 
species of fishes, which, considering the richness of the fish fauna of the east coast, 
is perhaps a smaller number than might have been anticipated. 
The fish which appear most prominently in the returns are those which, like the 
menhaden, swim at or near the surface, such as bluefish, alewives, shad, butter-fish, 
and mackerel. With the exception of flounders and skates, which are taken in 
comparatively shallow water, the typical bottom fish, such as cod, pollock, hake, 
haddock, etc., are very sparingly represented in the catch. 
The number of other fish taken with the menhaden was 94,795. Of these, 93,893 
were what are ordinarily termed food-fish, and 902 were of no recognized value as 
food. The former consisted chiefly of a fish useful in the manufacture of oil and 
fertilizer in addition to having considerable value as food and bait. Omitting these, 
the number of food-fish taken was 6,990. 
Outside of the menhaden more alewives were taken than all other fishes com- 
bined. Over 86,000 appear in the returns, nearly all being caught on the New 
England coast by one vessel; about half were obtained at one haul in Boston Harbor. 
These fish were usually among schools of menhaden, although in some instances the 
alewives greatly outnumbered the menhaden or appeared to be unmixed with other 
fish. Alewives swim at the surface like menhaden, and, when accompanied by 
menhaden, the entire school may be mistaken for the latter fish. The alewives 
contain some oil, and are suitable for use at the menhaden factories. On the Maine 
coast, where they are known as “ k yacks” or “blueback herrings,” they have for 
many years been utilized in larger or smaller quantities for fertilizer. In addition 
to the alewives retained, a number of large schools were released after their identity 
was discovered; these do not appear in the returns. 
The fish of which the next largest number was taken was the bluefish. Only a 
few single seine hauls yielded a noteworthy number of bluefish, the bulk of the 
catch being made up of fish taken in small quantities in numerous hauls. The 
aggregate number was 2,274. The largest number secured in one haul was 140; 
this was in Chesapeake Bay. 
The shad caught with the menhaden numbered 1,816. These were taken under 
the same conditions as the alewives, and nearly all were obtained at the mouth of the 
Kennebec Biver, Maine; in three seine-hauls, on July 5, 11, and 16, 1,700 were caught 
with 111,200 menhaden, 6,400 alewives, and small numbers of skates, flounders, 
mackerel, haddock, goosefish, and other species. 
About 800 butter-fish, mostly of a size too small to serve as food, were caught. 
Two hundred of these were taken in two hauls. 
