328 
BUT>LETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
set ill G5 fathoms of water, when brought to the surface, yielded a catch of 30 tilelish, 
weighiug fi om G to 15 i)ouuds apiece. These were lauded iu Gloucester oii February 
IG, where they weie distributed, and those who ate them stated that they were “better 
than salmon.” The captain of the Mabel Kenniston thought the catch of tileflsh would 
have been considerably larger had it not been that the dogfish were very abundant 
and troublesome. 
Ill August, 1898, the Grampus was placed at the disjiosal of the Director of the 
Biological Laboratory of the United States Fish Commission at Woods Hole, and a small 
party of naturalists, ijuite ignorant of the catch that had been made by the Mabel Ken- 
niston iu 1897, boarded the vessel on August 12, for the purpose of examining the surface 
fauna in the warmer waters of the Gulf Stream, and to make a trial for the tilefish, 
although the apparatus for the latter work was crude and unsatisfactory. At noon 
on the 13th of August a trawl was set iu 70 fathoms of water iu latitude 40° 11' FT. and 
longitude 70° 48' W. After it had been on the bottom not more than au hour, it was 
drawn, and 8 tilefish were taken; fully a third of the hooks had been torn away from 
the rotten gaiigings. The capture of these 8 tilefish was a most welcome surprise to 
those on board of the boat, because the trawl that had been used was in a miserable 
condition, and baited with squeteague, which are uusuited for this method of fishing. 
Moreover, the line rested on the bottom but a comparatively short time. The boat 
was immediately headed for Woods Hole to obtain the necessary equipment for a 
more careful survey of the tilefish grounds. 
The locality that had been thus examined was about 10 miles to the eastward of 
the position occupied by the Grampus in 1892, where McDonald and Libbey had 
caught the first fishes since the mortality of 1882. It was, however, a spot that had 
not been examined by the vessels that had searched for the tilefish during the inter- 
vening years. 
Commissioner George M. Bowers very willingly provided the necessary apparatus 
for a more thorough examination of the tilefish ground, and on the 30th of August 
the Grampus left Woods Hole, sailed to Newport, where two barrels of small mackerel 
were taken on board for bait, and early on the morning of August 31 two trawls were 
set in 75 fathoms of water in latitude 40° 08' N., longitude 71° 12' W. This was a 
point about 20 miles to the westward of the location at which the fish were found on 
August 13, but when the trawl was drawn and the dory had returned to the boat, 7 
beautiful tilefish were thrown on to the deck of the Grampus. With these were two 
large skates, two squid, and a small hake. Two trawls, each 200 fathoms in leugth, 
were used, and each trawl was provided with 300 hooks. The tilefish were all caught 
on hooks that had been baited with mackerel. The skates were taken on hooks that 
had been baited with squeteague. 
The boat then ran a few miles to the eastward and the trawls, again baited with 
mackerel, were set iu 75 fathoms. After remaining out for a few hours they were 
hauled, and from the deck of the Grampus we could see the sailors tugging at the line 
and rolling the great fish over into the boat. When the dory came alongside, the men 
threw 47 beautiful tilefish on the deck. This was the greatest catch since the mor- 
tality of 1882, and proved conclusively that the animal was reestablished in its former 
habitat. 
There was time before dark for the trawls to be set again, although they could 
remain out but a short time; 19 additional fish, however, were takeii, making a total 
of 73 for the entire day. Although many were young fish weighiug less than 2 pounds, 
