228 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
action, and Professor Baird considered he was Letter qualified to give the information sought than he 
was himself. I trust I have read enough from this emiuent authority to show the House that many of 
the statements made by gentlemen are not warranted by the facts ; that they are mistakes, and that 
the bill which is ottered here is in the interests of cheap food and better food and more of it, and is a 
conservative and reasonable bill for us to pass. 
The bill passed tlie House May 21 by a vote of 119 to 88 (119 not voting), with 
the following ameudineuts: In the first section, the words “passage of this act” were 
stricken out and “1st day of Marcli, 1887” were substituted; at the end of the first 
section tbe following was added: 
Provided, hoivever, That nothing in this act shall be held to apply to mackerel caught offshore 
with hook and line from open boats of less than 20 feet keel. 
The fourth section relating to treaties was stricken out. 
In the Senate, the bill, as jiassed by the House, was reported from theOommittee 
on Fisheries by Mr. Palmer, on July 29, 1880, with an amendment striking out the 
reference to “open rowboats of less than 20 feet keel” and insei'ting simply “boats.” 
The committee also made a report as follows: 
This bill is designed to prevent the taking of mackerel by seines and purse nets between the first 
days of March and June of the five years sncceeding its euactment. It is urged with practical 
unanimity by the vessel owners and fishermen engaged in this industry, and is opposed only by 
commission dealers in fresh fish. 
The testimony taken by the committee, which has been printed, and is submitted as a part of 
this report, shows an alarming decrease in the better grades of mackerel suitable for salting as food. 
The average yearly catch in amount for the years from 1809 to 1872, inclusive, was 166,184 barrels. 
The average yearly catch from 1872, the tiine purse nets came into general use, to 1885, inclusive, was 
201,204 barrels. It will be seen that the average annual amount caught for the last thirteen years is 
onlj" about 20 per cent greater than for the sixty-four years from 1809 to 1872, notwithstanding the 
improved apiiliances which sliould have insured a vast increase in the catch, stimulated, as the business 
has been, by a greatly increased demand from a rapidly increasing population and imirroved methods 
of distribution. 
Far more to be deprecated than tbe deficient catch has been the deterioration in quality, as 
shown by the decrease in ])ercoutage of No. Is. In 1865 No. 1 mackerel was 59 per cent of the whole 
catch; in 1866 it was 64 per cent; in 1867 it was 58 per cent; in 1868 it was 51 per cent; in 1869 it was 
31 per cent; in 1870 it was 21 per cent; in 1871 it was 40 per cent; in 1872 it was 40 per cent; in 1873, 
the year that seines became generally used, it was 45 per cent; in 1874 it was 44 per cent; in 1875 it 
ran down to 25 per cent; in 1876 it was only 14 per cent; in 1877 it was 17 per cent; in 1878 it was 9 
per cent; in 1879 it was 6 per cent; in 1880 it was 8 i)er cent; in 1881 it was 6 per cent; in 1882 it was 
15 per cent ; in 1883 it was 14 per cent ; in 1884 it was 8 per cent ; and, linally, in 188.5, it was 7 per cent. 
The fish taken in the time included in the bill, lioth male and female, are poor, unfit for packing, 
and not very acceptable for the table. The schools appear on our coast, off’ Cape Hatteras, in March, 
and thence proceed northward, .and S))awn on the coasts of Massachusetts and Maine. On their first 
api^earance the mackerel fleet meets them and they are harried and harassed from that time until 
Avinter. 
Although it is contended by some scientists that all that man can do will have no appreciable 
effect in depleting the ocean of fish, it is believed by jnany that the unrelenting pursuit mentioned 
above has a tendency to deflect them from their course or to prevent many from returning in subse- 
quent years. This latter fact m.ay account for the diminished percentage of No. 1 mackerel. 
The whole mackerel fleet is owned in Massachusetts and Maine, consists of nearly 400 sails, 
employs about 5,000 men, and is now engaged in seining mackerel from March to November. During 
April and May of last year the catch was so great that it glutted the avenues of distribution, and 
many thousand barrels were thrown away. There is some conflict of testimony as to the amount of 
this waste, but it was probably between 60,000 and 75,000 barrels. 
Your committee have amended the bill to allow fuller latitude to the taking of mackerel by 
hook and line, and recommend that the amendment be concurred in, and that the bill when so amended 
do pass. 
