NOTES ON AN INVESTIGATION OF THE MENHADEN FISHERY. 
293 
The J. W. Hawlcins made 335 seine sets in Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries out 
of a total of 459; 77 hauls were made on the Maine coast. Over two-thirds of the 
menhaden were taken in the former region. Among the most numerous food-fish 
caught were blueflsh, butter-fish, alewives, mackerel, shad, and squeteague; of these 
only the blueflsh, alewives, and shad were noticeably numerous. Nearly all the 
bluefisli were obtained in Chesapeake Bay, where the average catch to a set was 5 
fish ; the butter-fish were taken on the Maine and Maryland coasts, and in the bay ; 
the alewives were chiefly secured in Casco Bay, Maine, and Boston Harbor, Massa- 
chusetts; the mackerel were found on the coast of Maine and in Long Island Sound; 
practically all the shad were from Casco Bay and the mouth of the Kennebec River; 
the squeteague were principally from Chesapeake Bay and the North Carolina coast. 
The number of each kind of fish taken on each ground is shown in the following table: 
Summary by fishing-grounds of the number of menhaden and other fish taken by the steamer J. W. Hawlcins 
in 1894. 
Fish taken. 
Maine 
coast. 
Massa- 
chusetts 
coast. 
Long 
Island 
Sound. 
New 
Jersey- 
coast. 
Maryland 
(ocean 
side) . 
Virginia 
(ocean 
side). 
Chesapeake 
Bay and 
tributaries. 
Nortli 
Carolina 
coast. 
Total. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
Menhaden 
965, 850 
540, 600 
95, 503 
30, 097 
577, 500 
408, 800 
6, 263, 005 
377, 60 0 
9, 258, 955 
43, 876 
41, 500 
1, 501 
86 877 
1 
59 
27 
1, 530 
10 
1, 627 
2 
2 
59 
102 
3 
50 
214 
2 
2 
3 
3 
Cod 
1 
1 
1 
85 
8 
94 
1 
1 
2 
2 
2 
8 
8 
Eel 
11 
11 
Filed sh 
9 
9 
68 
2 
2 
1 
21 
6 
100 
6 
6 
11 
11 
23 
23 
33 
2 
35 
8 
8 
235 
6 
116 
357 
1 
1 
7 
7 
3 
12 
1 
16 
l 
1 
Shad 
1, 799 
1 
8 
1, 808 
1 
2 
60 
15 
78 
28 
10 
2 
2 
3 
18 
6 
69 
20 
20 
42 
42 
17 
2 
6 
81 
143 
249 
3 
2 
5 
22 
22 
Total 
1, 012, 029 
582, 131 
95, 619 
30, 120 
577, 668 
408, 843 
6, 266, 445 
377, 810 
9, 350, 665 
Seine-hauls 
77 
22 
7 
2 
ii 
15 
315 
10 
459 
DISTANCES FROM SHORE AT WHICH FISHING WAS DONE. 
The prominent feature of several proposed or enacted measures for the regulation 
of the menhaden fishery by Congress and the State legislatures has been the prohibi- 
tion of the fishing operations within certain distances of the shore. By the advocates 
of this method of restricting the fishery, the 3-mile limit has been regarded as a proper 
or desirable one within which no menhaden Ashing should be permitted. The ques- 
tion of constitutionality has debarred the States from assuming jurisdiction over this 
zone, and Congress has shown no inclination to attempt the regulation of the fishery, 
