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ANNUAL REPORT

OF THE

SSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES,

MADE TO THE

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, 1891

PROVIDENCE, R. I.

E. L. FREEMAN & SON, PRINTERS TO THE STATE.
1891.

REPORT.

To the Honorable the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island
and Providence Flayitations^ at its January Session^ 1891 :

The Commissioners of Inland Fisheries herewith present their an-
nual report for the year 1890.

TROUT.

40,000 eyed brook trout eggs were purchased by us. These were
successfully hatched by Mr. Charles A. Hoxie of Carolina.

The same plan as pursued by us last season, of keeping the trout
fry in artificial ponds during the warm weather, placing them in the
streams as late as December, was followed this season with very
gratifying results. The fry in the early part of December are from
four to eight inches in length, and able to look for themselves. "We
were able to supply all applicants, and not a fish was lost in trans-
portation.

It is remarked by all who are conversant with the streams of our
State, that the increase of brook trout has been remarkable.

The past two or three seasons have been favorable for re-stocking
the streams, and the results have exceeded our expectations.

LAND-LOCKED SALMON.

Colonel McDonald, United States Fish Commissioner, gave us ten
thousand land-locked salmon eggs. From these in December we had
upwards of four thousand fry averaging over five inches in length.

4 INLAND FISHERIES.

These were placed in our deepest ponds without any loss. There is no
doubt in our minds of our being able to, within four years, having a
satisfactory showing in many of our ponds of this, the king of all in-
land fishes. Repeated efforts of stocking with small fry have proved
futile.

BLACK BASS.

This fine, as well as game fish, is increasing in our waters and gain-
ing popularity as an edible fish. Some large catches have been
reported to us.

GOLD FISH.

Colonel McDonald also presented us with about four thousand gold
fish, differing in variety, taken from the Government ponds.

These were given to several cemeteries, Butler Hospital and Roger
Williams Park.

BAY AND SHORE FISHERIES.

The fishing in the waters of the upper part of the bay has run
very good the past season. Tautog and scup quite plenty ; small sand
scup having been taken very plentifully at Pawtuxet, and all the shore
resorts. Small mackerel (tinkers) have also been caught at Bower's
Cove and at India Point wharves, — something heretofore quite un-
known to the commissioners, if not to older fishermen. ,

THE SEINE FISHERIES.

This branch of industry has not been so remunerative as in some
other seasons, owing to unfavorable weather and the very low prices
obtained. The traps as a rule have not done well. The sportsmen
have had all they wanted of small scup, and little mackerel, while the
larger game, as bass, blue-fish and tautog, have not been wanting, and
the hook and liner has been well rewarded by large catches.

The most notable feature of the fish business this year has been the
extremely low prices, and abundant supply throughout the entire season.

INLAND FISHERIES.

SCUP.

These fish were not plenty in the spring, and the weather was not
favorable to a large catch. The catch in the traps commenced on 27th
of April and continued to the 23rd of May. The total catch at Cog-
geshall's Point was 7,500 barrels ; all others about 1,600 barrels ; total,
9,100 barrels.

The large scup were very scattering in the bay, but from the first of
May small scup appeared in immense numbers, but very small, it tak-
ing twenty to weigh one pound. They came into all parts of the bay
and were caught everywhere during the summer.

In the early fall they were still plenty and six of them would weigh
one pound, showing the season's growth.

On the 4th of May codfish were very abundant. From one of them
twenty-seven scup were taken.

The run of fish this season was about two weeks earlier than last.

Captain N. B. Church, to whom we are indebted for much valuable
information and who has kindly allowed us the use of his journal,
records that ''The number of codfish caught in traps was unprece-
dented ; sometimes a ton were taken at one haul. That he saw more
squeteague, blue-fish and sea-bass than ever before in all his experience.
The blue-fish were observed the whole length of the coast, from Barne-
gatt, N. J., to Seguin Island, Maine.

" The squeteague were plenty in Seaconnet River for about six
weeks, beginning to run, I think, about the middle of June. They
were so plenty that the people made but little exertion of catching
them, as they would not bring enough in the market to more than pay
the shipping bills. The same is true with the blue-fish.

" That the blue-fish ruined the menhaden fishing in this section."

The following table shows the amount of fish and lobsters sent by
way of Old Colony Steamboat and Railroad Lines from Newport, for
each month in the year 1890 :

6 INLAND FISHERIES.

Fish. Lobsters.

January 56 barrels 148 boxes.

February 36 " 118 "

March ; 48 " 147 "

April 861 " 235 "

May 5851 " 224

June 506 " 419

July » 339 " 576

August 84 " 507 "

September 342 " 136

October 487 " 27

November 304 " 50

December 19 " 63

8933 " 2650 "
To this must be added the amount shipped

in fish steamers 3345 ' '

Making total of fish 12,278

These figures do not include all the fish shipped. Quite a number of
barrels were sent to Providence ; besides, we have no account of what
went over the Stonington Road.

From one-half to three-fifths of these fish are scup ; the balance com-
prise all the varieties of edible fish found in our waters.

MACKEREL

Have not favored us with their presence in large numbers.

September 23d they put in their appearance and several hundred
barrels were taken ; but they soon left us under sealed orders, as sud-
denly as they came, while their smaller relatives, the " little mackerel,"
remained with us in good numbers for a long time.

HORSE MACKEREL.

The late Professor S. F. Baird, in his report for 1871 and 1872,
under the head of " Natural History of Important Food Fishes," gives
us a very valuable paper upon this fish. And it is so replete with in-

INLAND FISHERIES. 7

valuable practical, as well as historical facts, that we feel justified in
giving it in full :

"the blue-fish.'*
Pomatomus Saltatrix.

Names This fish, which on the coast of New England and the

Middle States is called the blue-fish, is also known in Rhode Island as
the ••' horse mackerel '* ; south of Cape Hatteras as the " skipjack" ;
in North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland it is said to be called the
" green-fish." Young blue-fish are in some parts of New England
called "snapping mackerel" or "snappers"; about New Bedford,
" blue snappers " ; to distinguish them from the sea bass they are
sometimes spoken of as the " blue-fish." About New York they are
called " skip mackerel," and higher up the Hudson River " white-
fish."

In the Gulf of Mexico the name " blue-fish " is in general use.

Distribution. — This species is widely distributed — in the Malay
Archipelago, Australia, at the Cape of Good Hope, at Natal and about
Madagascar ; in the Mediterranean, where it is a well-known and
highly prized food fish in the markets of Algiers, though rare on the
Italian side. It has been seen at Malta, at Alexandria, and on the
coast of Syria, and about the Canaries. It has never been seen on the
Atlantic coast of Europe, and, strangely enough, never in the waters
of the Bermudas or any of the Western Islands. On our coast it
ranges from Central Brazil and the Guianas through the Gulf of
Mexico and north to Nova Scotia, though never seen in the Bay of
Fundy. From Cape Florida to Penobscot Bay, blue-fish are abundant
at all seasons when the temperature of the water is propitious. It is
not known yet what limits of temperature are the most favorable to
their welfare, but it would appear, from the study of the dates of their
appearance during a period of years in connection with the ocean tem-
perature, that they prefer to avoid water which is much colder than
40°. It is possible that the presence of their favorite food, the men-

8 INLAND FISHERIES.

haden, has as much influence upon their movements as water tem-
perature.

It is certain that few blue-fish are found on our Middle and Southern
coast when the menhaden are absent ; on the other hand, the blue-fish
do not venture in great numbers into the Gulf of Main at the time
when menhaden are schooling and are at their greatest abundance.
Their favorite summer haunts are in the partially protected waters of
the Middle States, from Ma}^ to October, with an average temperature
of 60° to 7d°. The menhaden, or certain schools of them, affect a
cooler climate and thrive in the waters of Western and Central Maine
in the months when the harbor temperatures are little above 50° and
55°, and that of the ocean considerably lower."

Professor Baird has published in the First Report of the United
States Fish Commission an exhaustive account of the habits of the
blue-fish which will be quoted from freely in this chapter.

The presence of quotation marks will be sufficient to indicate the
source of the paragraphs taken from his essay, without further refer-
ence to his name.

" Movements and Migrations. — The blue-fish is preeminently a
pelagic or wandering fish, and like many others, especially of the
scrombridce, is apparently capricious in its movements, varying in
numbers at particular localities with the year, and sometimes disap-
pearing from certain regions for a large fraction of a century, again to
return as before. The cause of this varia^tion it is impossible to
explain, being due in some instances, probably, to the disappearance
of its favorite food in consequence of its own voracity, or for other
undetermined reasons.

" They occur during the summer throughout the entire range indi-
cated for the United States, but are much larger in size and in greater
abundance from the coast of New Jersey northward. From New Jer-
sey southward, in the season mentioned, with the exception of an
occasional wandering school, they are generally only about eight to
twelve inches in length, representing, therefore, in all probability, in-
dividuals of the second year's growth.

INLAND FISHERIES. 9

*'TIiey appear to have a resular migration along our coast, present-
ing themselves later and later in the spring, the farther they are found
to the north, and disappearing in the inverse order from the same
regions in the autumn. First noticed on the Carolina coast as early as
March and April, immense schools of them, bound eastward, are seen
off the coast of the Middle States from the middle of May to the mid-
dle of June,' and in October similar bodies, perhaps embracing fewer
individuals, pass to the southward. It is possible, however, that in
the autumn some schools move well out to sea, and are, therefore, less
likely to be observed. They leave the northern coast about the middle
of October, and about the middle of November appear in vast num-
bers off the coast of North Carolina, where, from Nag's Head, in
Currituck County, to Cape Lookout, there is a very extensive fishery
prosecuted, which furnishes blue-fish for the northern markets, It is
estimated that at least one hundred and fifty crews are engaged in this
fall fishing, which lasts generally until late in December. At this time
individuals may be taken weighing fifteen to eighteen pounds, although
their average size is about ten.

"Their occurrence in autumn off the coast of North Carolina is
preceded and first indicated by the vast schools of menhaden, which
they follow in, several miles from the sea, and by the usual accompa-
niment of flocks of gulls attending them to take a share in the feast.
Of the particular mode of fishing in this neighborhood we shall take
occasion to speak hereafter.

"According to Dr. Yarrow the blue-fish are seen in spring on the
North Carolina coast (the smaller ones first) in March or April, when,
however, they are much less in size than the specimens referred to as
occurring in the fall. The precise time of their appearance at most of
the points farther north has not yet been ascertained. Whether they
actually migrate from south to north, and vice versa^ or merely come
in from the outer seas in regular oraer, as is believed to be the case

1 In the Chesapeake, according to Dr. Wilkins, at Hunger's Wharf, Virginia, the tayler is one of
the most abundant fish, as many as four thousand being caught at one lift of the pound. The aver-
age size is about three pounds. They come about the first of June and leave early in October,
2

10 , INLAND riSHEEIES.

with the shad, etc., has not been settled, although the former supposi-
tion appears the most probable. They reach the New Jersey coast
sometime in the early part of May, and usually appear at Newport and
in Vineyard Sound (the time varying with the season) from the middle
of May to the first week in June. They are expected at Edgartown
from the 25th to the 30th of May ; but I am informed that, on their
first arrival they feed at the bottom, and sometimes for a while are not
seen at the surface at all, seldom being taken with the hook, but caught
in large numbers in pounds and with gill-net, usually along the lower
edge of the net. According to Dr. Yarrow, they are not taken with
the hook about Beaufort until about the 1st of July.

They do not bite, however, in Vineyard Sound until from the 10th
to the 15th of June, when they appear on the surface, and are caught
in large numbers in the usual manner."

In the first week of May, 1878, about a thousand blue-fish, weighing
four pounds each, were caught off Long Island at Canarsie and West
Hampton. This is about two months earlier than is usual for them to
be taken in any considerRble numbers.

^''Periodicity. — Great interest attaches to this fish in consequence of
the changes in its abundance, and even its actual occurrence on our
coast, within the historic period. The precise nature and extent of the
variation has not been established, nor whether it extended along the
entire coast or not. Its earliest mention for our waters is in the work
of Josselyn ('New England Rarities Displayed,' 1672,) where, on page
96, he mentions the 'blew-fish, or horse,' as being common in New
England (his residence was on the New Hampshire coast, or near by
in Maine,) and 'esteemed the best sort of fish next to rock-cod.' He
says : 'It is usually as big as the salmon, and a better meat by far.'
He also, on page 24, catalogues two kinds of 'blew-fish' or 'hound-
fish' ; the 'speckeled hound-fish' and the 'blew hound-fish, called horse-
fish.'

"There appears no species to which this reference could apply except
the subject of our present article, this being the opiuion of Mr. J. Ham-

INLAND FISHERIES. 11

mond Trumbull, who has devoted much research to determiniDg the
modern equivalents of ancient Indian names of animals, and to whom
I am indebted for the hint. Mr. Trumbull also remarks that in a man-
uscript vocabulary obtained by President Stiles, in 1762, from a Pequod
Indian at Groton, Connecticut, there is mentioned the 'Aquaundunt or
blue-fish,' clearly the same as what now bears that name, which shows
that this fish was found in Fisher's Island Sound in 1762.

" Again, according to Zaccheus Macy', the blue-fish were very
abundant about Nantucket from the first settlement of the English on
the island, in 1659 to 1763, and were taken in immense numbers from
the 1st of June to the middle of September. They all disappeared
however in 1764, a period of great mortality among the Indians of that
island. It has been suggested that the disease which attacked the
Indians may have been in consequence of an epidemic in the fish upon
which they fed, or else that it invaded both fish and Indians simul-
taneously, resulting in almost their entire extermination.'

" According to Dr. Mitchell, this fish was entirely unknown about
New York prior to 1810 ; but they began to be taken in small numbers
about the wharves in 1817, and were abundant in 1825.

Immense numbers were caught at the Highlands in 1841. The doc-
tor remarks, as has been done repeatedly by others, that as the blue-
fish increase, the squeteague or weak-fish diminished in about the same
ratio.

"According to Mr. Smith, of Newport (Rhode Island), his father
used to catch blue-fish some time about the year 1800, when they were
abundant and of large size, weighing from sixteen to eighteen pounds.

*' Captain Francis Pease, of Edgartown, also testified that his father
spoke of large blue-fish at the end of the preceding century, some of
them weighing forty pounds.. This leaves an interval between 1764

1 Collections Massachusetts Historical Society for 1794, iii., 1810.

2 " From the first coming of the English to Nantucket (1659) a large fal-fish, called the blue-fish,
thirty of -which would fill a barrel, was caught in great plenty all round the island from the first of
the sixth month (June) till the middle of the ninth month (September). But it is remarkable that
in the year 1764 . . . they all disappeared, and that none have ever been taken since. This has
been a great loss to us.*'— Ibid., 1792, p. 159. Zaccheus Macy's Account of Nantucket.

1^ INLAND FISHERIES.

and toward the end of the century in which no mention is made of the
blue-fish, and which may probably indicate its absence, as during that
time there were many works published relating to the local history and
domestic economy of New England, and which would doubtless have
taken note of so conspicuous a fish had it been present.

" Whether they existed uninterruptedly during the century interven-
ing between Josselyn's time 1672 (or even 1659, according to Macy)
and 1764, 1 am at present unable to say. According to Captain Pease,
they were known about Edgartown at the end of the last century/ As
already stated, Mr. Mitchell speaks of their first making their appear-
ance in New York about 1810. They are noted as having been seen in
Vineyard Sound again as early as 1820. It would therefore appear
that they were in such small numbers about New York in 1810 that the
young only were noticed flocking about the wharves, and that in ten
years they were observed as far east as Nantucket, where the speci-
mens seen from 1824 to 1826 were very small, not over four inches.
The next year they measured seven and the third year ten inches,
according to the testimony of one witness, although this does not rep-
resent, in all probability, the rate of growth,

"According to Captain Burgess, of Monument, Massachusetts, they
were caught about Nantucket in 1825, and were very abundant in
1830. Dr. Storer states the first blue-fish recorded as having been no-
ticed in the present century north of Cape Cod was captured on the
25th of October, 1837. Captain Atwood remarks that in 1838 he saw
blue-fish for the first time about Provincetowu. These were very small,
the largest weighing only two pounds. In a few years, however, they
became larger and more numerous, and finally increased to such an ex-
tent as to exercise a very marked influence upon the fisheries. Accord-
ing to the captain (Proceedings of Boston Society of Natural History,

1 President Dwight bears witness to the fact that blue-fish were abundani in the Jsarragansett
Bay region as late as 1780. "The mackerel formerly frequented this coast in immense numbers,
and in the season were constantly to be found in the market. But about the close of the Revolu-
tionary W^ar they forsook our waters and have not made, their appearance since. They were
esteemed a great delicacy, and are the largest of the mackerel species."— Note on Fishes of New-
port, Rhode Island. Dwight'a Travels, iii., 1822, p. 50.

INLAND FISHERIES. 13

18G3, p. 189,) they arrive in Massachusetts Bay in a body, coming at
once, so as to almost fill the harbor at Provincetown. In one year
they came in on the 22d of Jane, and although the day before, eight
thousand mackerel were taken, the day after not one was seen or cap-
tured.

He says that they leave about the last of September, with the first
cold northeasterly storm, although stragglers are taken as late as
December at Provincetown.

"According to Messrs. Marchant and Peter Sinclair, of Gloucester,
(October, 1872,) blue-fish made their first appearance in numbers about
Cape Ann twenty-five years ago, coming in great force and driving out
all other fish. They are now scarcer than twenty years ago ; about the
same as tautog ; some seasons scarcely noticed.

"Mr. J. C. Parker, an aged gentleman of Falmouth, says the first
blue-fish seen at Wood's HoU in this century was taken in July, 1831 ;
but his father informed him that they were abundant in the preceding
century, about 1780 or 1790, at which time they disappeared ; and that
when the blue-fish left, the scup first made their appearance. They are
also noted as having shown themselves at the head of Buzzard's Bay
in 1830 and 1831, and, although numerous, were of small size, meas-
ing about a foot in length.

" To sum up the evidence, therefore, in regard to the periodical ap-
pearance of the blue-fish, we find notice of its occurrence in 1672, or
even 1659, and up to 1764. How long it existed in the waters prior to
that date cannot now be determined. The oral testimony of Mr.
Parker refers to its occurrence at Wood's Holl in 1780 or 1790; and
it is mentioned by Mr. Smith as being at Newport in 1800, and at
Edgartown, Massachusetts, about the same time by Captain Pease.
Mitchell testifies to its occurrence in New York, of very small size, in
1810 ; and it is recorded as existing again at Nantucket in 1820, and
about Wood's Holl and Buzzard's Bay in 1830 to 1831 ; and a little
later at Hyannis.

In 1830 it had become abundant about Nantucket, and in the fall of
1837 it was first noticed in Massachusetts Bay ; and then year by year

14 INLAND FISHERIES.

it became more and more numerous, until now it is very abundant.
Several accounts agree in reference to the very large size (even to forty
or fifty pounds) of those taken in the last century.

" Further research into ancient records may tend to throw more light
on the early history of the blue-fish, and even materially to change the
conclusions already reached. It will be observed that the references
to its occurrence, from 1780 to 1800, are on the testimony of aged per-
sons who have heard their fathers speak of it, although I find no
printed records anywhere in reference to it between 1764 and 1810.
The rate of progression to the north of Cape Cod I have at present no
means of indicating, although they probably gradually extended farther
and farther north, and may possibly occur much farther east than we
have any mention of at present.

*' During the present century the maximum of abundance of these
fish off the middle coast of the United States appears to have been
reached from 1850 to 1860. The testimony elicited from various parties,
as well as from printed records, indicates a decrease since that period
much greater in some localities than others. About New York they
are said to have been unusually plenty in the summer of 1871, but
farther East the diminution which had been observed in previous years
appeared to continue.**

Since the writing of the above, in 1871, there has been no special
change in the abundance of blue-fish. They are quite sutHcieut in
number to supply the demand for them and to make great inroads upon
the other fishes, some of which, like the menhaden and mackerel, would
perhaps, if undisturbed by the blue-fish, be more valuable than they
are at present. They have now been with us for fifty years. Their
numbers are subject to periodical variation, of the cause of which we
are ignorant. It is to be regretted that there are no records of it in
the South Atlantic States. If such existed, we might, perhaps, learn
from them that the blue-fish remained in those waters while absent
from the northern coasts. Only one statement is to be found which
covers this period, although Lawson, in his " History of North Caro-
lina," published in 1709, and Gatesby, in his '* Natural History

INLAND FISHERIES. 15

of the Carolinas," published in 1743, refer to its presence. In
"Bertram's Travels," published in 1791, "skipjack" is mentioned
as one of the most abundant fish at the mouth of the St. John's River.

When blue-fish again became abundant their presence was first
noticed at the South, and they seem to have made their inroads from
that direction. The blue-fish was unknown to Schoepf, if we may
judge from his work on the "Fisheries of New York," published in
1787. Dr. Mitchell recorded their frequent capture about New York
in 1814, though before 1810 they are said to be unknown in that local-
ity. In 1825 they were abundant here, and in 1841 immense numbers
were captured in the Vineyard Sound, and about Nantucket they were
on the increase from 1820 to 1830. It is certain that they had not
reappeared in 1822 in Narragansett Bay, for in " Bertram's Travels "
it is stated that, though formerly abundant, they had not been seen in
that region since the time of the Revolution.

The first one which was noticed north of Cape Cod was captured in
October, 1837, while we have no record of their appearance about Cape
Ann before 1847.

Food and Voracity. — The blue-fish is a carniverous animal of the
most pronounced type, feeding solely upon other fish. In this connec-
tion it cannot be out of place to reprint Professor Baird's remarks upon
this subject, which have been so often quoted during the past ten years :

" There is no parallel in point of destructiveness to the blue-fish
among the marine species on our coast, whatever may be the case
among some of the carniverous fish of the South American waters.
The blue-fish has been well likened to an animated chopping machine,
the business of which is to cut to pieces and otherwise destroy as many
fish as possible in a given space of time.

All writers are unanimous in regard to the destructiveness of the
blue-fish. Going in large schools, in pursuit of fish not much inferior
to themselves in size, they move along like a pack of hungry wolves,
destroying everything before them. Their trail is marked by frag-
ments of fish and by the stain of blood in the sea, as, where the fish is
too large to be swallowed entire, the hinder portion will be bitten off

16 INLAND FISHERIES.

and the anterior part allowed to float away or sink. It is even main-
tained, with great earnestness that such is the gluttony of the fish, that
when the stomach becomes full the contents are disgorged and then
a<yaiu filled. It is certain that it kills many more fish than it requires
for its own support.

" The youngest fish equally with the older, perform this function of
destruction, and although they occasionally devour crabs, worms, etc.,
the bulk of their sustenance throughout the greater part of the year is
derived from other fish. Nothing is more common than to find a small
blue-fish of six or eight inches in length under a school of minnows
making continual dashes and captures among them. The stomachs of
the blue-fish of all sizes, with rare exceptions, are found loaded with
the other fish, sometimes to the number of thirty or forty, either entire
or in fragments.

*' As already referred to, it must also be borne in mind that it is not
merely the small fry that are thus devoured, and which it is expected
w411 fall a prey to other animals, but that the food of the blue-fish con-
sists very largely of individuals which have already passed a large per-
centage of the chances against their attaining maturity, many of them,
indeed, having arrived at the period of spawning. To make the case
more clear, let us realize for a moment the number of blue-fish that
exist on our coast in the summer season. As far as I can ascertain by
the statistics obtained at the fishing stations on the New England coast,
as also from the records of the New York markets, kindly furnished
by Middleton & Carman, of the Fulton Market, the capture of blue-
fish, from New Jersey to Monomoy, during the season, amounts to not
less than one million individuals, averaging five or six pounds each.
Those, however, who have seen the blue-fish in his native waters, and
realized the immense number there existing, will be quite willing to
admit that probably not one fish in a thousand is ever taken by man.
If, therefore, we have an actual capture of one million, we may allow
one thousand million as occurring in the extent of our coasts referred
to. even neglecting the smaller ones, which, perhaps, should also be
taken into the account.

INLAND FISHERIES. 17

" An allowance of ten fish per clay to each bliic-fish is not excessive,
according to the testimony elicited from the fishermen, and substanti-
ated by the stomachs of those examined ; this gives ten thousand mil-
lions of fish destro3'ed per day. And as the period of the stay of the
blue-fish on the New England coast is at least one hundred and twenty
days, we have in round numbers twelve hundred million millions of fish
devoured in the course of a season.

" Again, if each blue-fish, averaging five pounds, devours or destroys
even half its own weight of other fish per day (and I am not sure that
the estimate of some witnesses of twice this w^eight is not more nearly
correct), we will have, during the same period, a daily loss of twenty-
five hundred million pounds, equal to three hundred thousand millions
for the season.

" This estimate applies to three or four year old fish, of at least
three to five pounds in weight. We must, however, allow for those of
smaller size, and a hundred fold or more in number, all engaged simul-
taneously in the butchery referred to.

"• We can scarcely conceive of a number so vast ; and however much
we may diminish, within reason, the estimate of the number of blue-fish
and the average of their captures, there still remains an appalling ag-
gregate of destruction. While the smallest blue-fish feed upon the
dimmutive fry, those of which we have taken account capture fish of
large size, many of them if not capable of reproduction, being within
at least one or two years of that period.

*' It is estimated by very good authority that of the spawn deposited
by any fish at a given time not more than thirty per cent, are hatched,
and that less than ten per cent, attain an age when they are able to
take care of themselves. As their age increases, the chances of reach-
ing maturity become greater and greater. It is among the small
residuum of this class that the agency of the blue-fi.sh is exercised, and
whatever reasonable reduction may be made in our estimate, we can-
not doubt that they exert a material influence.

'' The rate of growth of the blue-fish is also an evidence of the
immense amount of food they must consume. The young fish which

3

18 INLAND FISHERIES.

first appear along the shores of Vineyard Sound, about the middle of
August, are about five inches in length. B}^ the beginning of Septem-
ber, however, they have reached six or seven inches, and on their
reappearance in the second year they measure about twelva or fifteen
inches. After this they increase in a still more rapid ratio. A fish
which passes eastward from Vineyard Sound in the spring, weighing
five pounds, is represented, according to the general impression, by
the ten to fifteen pound fish of the autumn.

If this be the fact, the fish of three or four pounds which pass along
the coast of North Carolina in March return to it in October weighing
ten to fifteen pounds.

*'As already explained, the relationship of these fish to the other
inhabitants of the sea is that of an unmitigated butcher ; and it is able
to contend successfully with any other species not superior to itself in
size. It is not known w^hether an entire school ever unite in an attack
upon a particular object of prey, as is said to be the case with the
ferocious fishes of the South American rivers ; should they do so, no
animal however large, could withstand their onslaught.

''They appear to eat anything that swims of suitable size — fish of
all kinds, but perhaps more especially the menhaden, which they seem
to follow along the coast, and which they attack with such ferocity as
to drive them on the shore, where they are sometimes pilled up in
windrows to the depth of a foot or more.

'' The amount of food they destroy, even if the whole of it be not
actually consmmed, is almost incredible. Mr. Westgate (page 33)
estimates it at twice the weight of the fish a day, and this is perhaps
quite reasonable. Captain Spindle goes so far as to say that it will
destroy a thousand fish a day. This gentleman is also of the opinion
that they do much more harm to the fishes of the coast than is caused
by the pounds. They will generally swallow a fish of a very large
size in proportion to their own, sometimes taking it down bodily ; at
others, only the posterior half. The peculiar armor of certain fish
prevents their being taken entire ; and it is not uncommon to find the
head of a sculpin or other fish, whose body has evidently been cut off

INLAND FISHERIES. 19

by the blue-fish. In the siiramer time the young are quite apt to estab-
lish themselves singly in a favorite locality, and, indeed,'to accompany
the fry of other fishes, usually playing below them, and every now
and then darting upward and capturing an unlucky individual, while
the rest dash away in every direction. In this manner they attend
upon the young mullet, atheriuas, etc. They are very fond of squid,
which may very frequently be detected in their stomachs.

In August, 1870, about Fire Island, Mr. S. I. Smith found their
stomachs filled with marine worms, a species of heteronereis, which,
though usually burrowing in the mud, at that season swims freely tow-
ard the surface in connection with the operation of reproduction.
This, like the squid, is a favorite bait for the bluefish, and they appear
to care for little else when these are to be had. This fact probably
explains the reason why, at certain seasons, no matter how abundant
the fish may be, they cannot be taken with the drail or squid bait." '

The blue-fish are believed to have had a very important influence
upon the abundance of other species on some parts of the coast. This
has been noticed especially on the north side of Cape Cod. South of
Cape Cod the small fish occur in such numerous abundance that even
the voracity of millions of blue-fish could hardly produce any effect
upon them. Captain Atwood has recorded his belief that the advent

1 The loUowing extract from the «' Gloucester Telegraph " of June'4, 1870, gives an idea of their
influence upon other fishes :

"Abundance of Fish in New Jersey— 1870.— Accounts from New Jersey say that the blue-
fish came in at Barnegat Inlet last week, sweeping through the bay, over flats as well as through
the channel, dri%ing millions of bushels of bunkers before them and filling the coves, creeks^
ditches and ponds in the meadows full. At Little Egg Harbor Inlet they drove shad on shore so
that people gathered them up by wagon-loads. Fish lie in creeks, ponds, etc., along the meadows
two feet deep, so that one can take a common fork and pitch them into a boat or throw them on the
bank. In some places they lie in windrows on the meadows where the tide has taken them, so they
take large wood-scows alongside and load them."

1857._«« Blue-fish were very plenty off our shores in the early part of autumn. They are great
enemies to the menhaden ; and for several days such a war raged that the beaches were strewn with
dead fish, chiefly of the latter species. Mr. Lewis, the historian, said that in two tides he picked
up nine bushels and buried them in his garden for manure."— Lewis and Newhall, p. 452, History
of Lynn.

20 Inland FisHERiES.

of the blue-fish drove away the plaice or large flounder from those
waters, not so 'much by their direct attacks upon them as by destroy-
ing the squid upon which the latter formerly subsisted. He is also of
the opinion that the mackerel once, for a time, were affected by them.
The mackerel have since returned to those waters in their wonted num-
bers, but the blue-fish are not sufficiently plenty north of Cape Cod to
interfere with them. The flight of the mackerel was not an unmiti-
gated evil, however, since as Captain Atwood pointed out, the number
of lobsters for a time was very considerably increased. The mackerel
fed upon their eggs, and when they were driven away by the blue-fish
the lobsters had a better chance to multiply.

' • The blue-fish sometimes make their way up the rivers to a con-
siderable distance, the adults, however, apparently never entering the
perfectly fresh water. They are found in the Potomac as far north as
Aquia Creek, and also far up the Hudson ; indeed, the young of the
year are taken as high as Sing Sing on the Hudson, and other tidal
rivers, where the water is entirely fresh."

Reproduction. — " Little is known of their reproduction. Dr. Yarrow
does not give any facts in regard to this subject, at Fort Macon, except
that spawn was seen to run out of a small female caught July 14. Dr.
Holbrook is also silent on this head.

Mr. Genio C. Scott, says the spawning beds are visited by the
parent in June, and consist of quiet nooks or bays. Mr. R. B. Roose-
velt states that very diminutive young occur in immense numbers along
the coast at the end of September or beginning of October ('Game Fish
of America,' 18G2, 159). I found the young fish at Carson's Inlet,
Deasley's Point, New Jersey, 1854, two or three inches in length, and
more compressed than the adult; but farther east, on Vineyard Sound,
although diligent search was conducted between the middle of June and
the first of October, with most efficient apparatus in the way of fine-
meslied nets, I met with nothing excepting fish that made their appear-
ance all at once along the edge of the bay and harbor.

'' According to Captain Edwards, of Wood's HoU, a very accurate
observer, they have no spawn in them when in Vineyard Sound. This

INLAND FISHERIES. 21

Statement is corroborated by Captain Hinckley ; and Captain Hallet,
of Hyauuis, ' does not know where they spawn.' The only positive
evidence on this subject is that of Captain Pease, who states it as the
general impression about Edgartown that they spawn about the last of
July or the first of August. He has seen them when he thought the}^
were spawning on the sand, having caught them a short time before,
full of spawn, and finding them afterwards for a time thin and weak.
He thinks their spawning ground is on the white sandy bottom to the
eastward of Martha's Vineyard, toward Muskeegut. While not dis-
crediting the statement of Mr. Pease, it seems a little remarkable that
so few persons on the eastern coast have noticed the spawning in the
summer of the blue-fish ; and although there may be exceptions to the
fact, it is not impossible that the spawning ground is in very early
spring, or even in winter, off New Jersey and Long Island or farther
south. It is not impossible that, at a suitable period after spawning,
the young, in obedience to their migratory instinct may move north-
ward along the coast, growing rapidly as they proceed. This explains
the almost sudden appearance of fish of fi.ve inches about Wood's Holl.

"We have the statement of Dr. Yarrow that vast schools of small
blue-fish were met in Beaufort Harbor during the last week in Decem-
ber, 1871. These were in company with small schools of young men-
haden and yellow-tail shad, and were apparently working their way
toward the sea by the route of the inlet. When observed they were
coming from the southward through the sound, moving very slowly, at
times nearly leaving it, and then returning.

The largest were about four inches in length, and others were much
smaller ; and as many as twenty schools were observed from the wharf
at Fort Macon, each of them occupying an area of from sixty to eighty
feet square, and apparently from four to six feet in depth. I would
not be much surprised if these fish should prove to have been spawned
late in the year off the southern coast."

Dilligent search by numerous inquirers during a period of ten years
has failed to add .anything of importance to what Professor Baird has
already stated in the paragraph above quoted, and it may be regarded

22 INLAND FISHERIES.

as almost certain that blue-fish do not spawn in our inshore waters.
The only important contribution to our knowledge on this subject is
found in the notes of Mr. Silas Stearns, who believes that he has
abundant evidence of their spawning in the Gulf of Mexico. His re-
marks are quoted in full below. The Hon. Robert B. Roosevelt
records that he observed the blue-fish fry less than an inch in Ifength in
the inlet of Far Rockaway, New York, on the 10th of July.

Size. — "The size varies considerably with season and locality, those
spending the summer on the southern coast, according to good author-
ity, rarely exceeding two or three pounds in weight, and being gener-
ally considerably less. The largest summer specimens are those found
farther to the eastward, where they are not unfrequently met with
weighing from ten to fifteen pounds, although this latter weight is
quite unusual. Mr. Snow, however, (page 44) mentions having seen
one of twenty-two pounds, and others give as their maximum from
fourteen to twenty. The average size of the schools in Vineyard
Sound, during the early season, is from five to seven pounds. The
schools, however, that make their appearance in October embrace many
individuals of from ten to fifteen pounds.

It is, therefore, not improbable that the difference between the first
mentioned average and the last represents the increase by their sum-
mer feeding. As already remarked, blue-fish in the last century some-
times attained a weight of forty or fifty pounds in Vineyard Sound ;
according to Zaccheus Macy, thirty of them would fill a barrel."

" Forest and Stream," June 25, 1874, states that L. Hathaway,
Esq., a veteran fisherman, while fishing from the bridge at Cohasset
Narrows, Massachusetts, with rod and reel, captured a blue-fish weigh-
ing twenty-five pounds. The largest previously caught weighed seven-
teen pounds.

"On getting back to the Carolina coast in the early part of Novem-
ber, according to Dr. Yarrow's statement, they are from three to five
feet in length and weigh from ten to twenty pounds. What becomes
of these large fish, that so few of them are seen in the early spring, it
is impossible to say. If it be really true that they are much scarcer

INLAND FISHERIES. 23

than in the fall, we may infer that their increased size makes them a
more ready prey to the larger fish and cetaceans, or that they have
accomplished their ordinary period of life ; possibly that they have
broken up into smaller parties, less conspicuous to observation, or that
they have materially changed their locality. The average length of
the fish that appear in the spring off the coast of Virginia and the
southern part of New Jersey, according to Dr. Coues, Dr. Yarrow,
and my own observation, is about one foot, being probably about one
year old.

As a general rule, those of the smaller size keep close to the shore
and can always be met with, while the larger ones go in schools and
remain farther outside.

"I was unable to obtain any very young fish about Wood's HoU in
1871, the smallest found making their appearance quite suddenly along
the coast, especially in the little bays, about the middle of August,
and then measuring about five by one and one-fifth inches. By the
end of a year they probably constitute the twelve or fifteen inch fish
referred to as occurring along the southern coast. The fish of the third
year, or those two years old, are possibly the three-pound fish, while
the five to seven pound fish may be considered a year older still. Ac-
curate observations are wanting, however, to determine these facts ;
as also whether they require two years, or three or more, to obtain suf-
ficient maturity for breeding. As far as I know, there is no appreci-
able difference between the sexes in their rate of growth or weight,
excepting that the female is likely to be a little deeper in the body."

A blue-fish weighing one pound measures about fourteen inches ;
two pounds, seventeen inches ; three pounds, twenty-one inches ; four
pounds, twenty-four inches ; five pounds, twenty-six inches ; six
pounds, twenty-six to twenty-seven inches, and eight pounds, twenty-
nine inches.

Stearns on Blue-fish in the Gulf of Mexico.— My. Stearns' notes on
the occurrence of the blue-fish in the Gulf of Mexico are so important
that they are quoted in full :

24 INLAND FISHERIES.

"The blae-fish is abundant in West Florida and as far west as the
Mississippi river, but is rare or not found at all in other parts of the
Gulf. At Pensacola and vicinity it is at certain seasons one of the
most important fishes of trade. Here it is caught only in seines and
when migrating, during the months of April, May, June, November and
December. It usually appears on the coast in April — sometimes a
little sooner — and comes from the northeast, swimming directly in
from deep water, or parallel to the land, according to the condition of
the sea. It sometimes swims near the surface, either to sport or prey
upon smaller surface-swimming fishes, but more commonly at some
depth in shoal water along the beach. Many schools are observed
through the months of April, May and June approaching the land
from the eastward, and it is supposed that there are several distinct
'runs' in that period. These 'runs' take place every year, although
much larger some 3^ears than others. It is usually the case that the
fish arriving in the spring are small, averaging two and a half pounds
weight, and that those caught in the fall are larger, averaging four
pounds or more. A few very large individuals are found in both
seasons.

" In May and June blue-fish enter the bays. They remain for some
days in the swift tideways when inside, and then disappear almost
entirely from observation. A few are taken through the summer with
hook and line in the bays and at sea. Excepting the smallest ones, all
the blue-fish contain spawn when they arrive in the spring. With the
larger fish the spawn is nearly ripe, and with the small and intermediate
size is found in nearly all stages.

April 29, 1879, 1 examined two female blue-fish, weighing seven and
eight pounds, and found spawn almost ripe enough to flow from the
oviduct. The same day others, smaller ones, were examined, in which
the ovaries were scarcely visible. The spawning season of the blue-
fish includes several months, I think, which are May, June, July, and
August.

" There can be no doubt of its spawning in the bays, sounds, and
bayous, as all evidence gained goes so far to prove it. On June 18,

INLAND FISHERIES. 25

1878, and August 9, 1878, I caught young blue-fish of about three-
quarters of an inch in length in Pensacola Bay. These fry were very
active and gave me no little trouble in capturing them.

Their color was a brilliant green, which faded considerably when
placed in alcohol. These, with others, were sent to the National
Museum with m}^ collections of that year. Many other specimens of
about that size were seen in August, but escaped my net. During the
months of November and December many small schools of blue-fish are
seen to pass out of the inlets, and, if there is not much surf, to follow
along the beach eastward. Blue-fish of all sizes may be seen at this
time, the smaller ones measuring in length three to five inches, the
intermediate sizes, ten, twelve, and fifteen inches, and the large ones
from the last-mentioned size to a size weighing fifteen to eighteen
pounds. Ten pounds is not an unusual weight for large blue-fish, but
those of eighteen pounds are rare.

Blue-fish are said to be more abundant on this coast than formerly,
and any change in the last five years has tended to an increase rather
than a decrease. It is an exceedingly voracious fish, preying upon any
kind of fish through which its teeth can cut and which its jaws can
surround. I think its migratory movement on this coast is caused
more on account of its food becoming scarcer in cold weather than on
account of its being influenced by the change of the temperature of the
water. For on the coldest days of the year (in December) blue-fish
are sometimes caught in shoal water in great abundance as well as at
any other time. The blue-fish is one of the choicest food fishes of this
coast, and is much used, both fresh and salted."

Eqj-ll on the Blue-fish in North Carolina. — Below is given an out-
line of the winter blue-fish fisheries of the Southern coast as gathered
from notes made during the visit of Mr. R. E. Earll to that region :

The large fish are taken in two localities — first, a few miles off Cape
May, and again on the Carolina coast between Cape Henry and Ocra-
coke Inlet. They are most abundant between Cape Hatteras and New
Inlet. Small fish frequently enter the sounds during the summer

26 INLAND FISHERIES.

months, and have long been taken by the residents. The larger ones
seldom enter the inlets, but remain near the outer shore, where they
feed upon the menhaden, shad and alewives, during the season of their
migrations to and from the large sounds in fall and spring.

" Apparently, the first that was known of large blue-fish in this
region was in 1842, when a quantity was taken in a haul-seine near
New Inlet. Gill-nets were first used for the capture of the species in
this locality in 1847, though they were not generally adopted till sev-
eral years later. The first vessel visited the region in 1866, and from
that date to 1879, six to twelve sails came regularly to that locality.
The fishery reached its height between 1870 and 1876, when in addi-
tion to the vessels fully one hundred crews of five men each fished
along the shores. The catch varies greatly from time to time, as the
fish are constantly on the move and often go beyond reach of the
seines and gill-nets.

Some seasons each boat's crew has averaged four or five thousand
fish weighing ten to fifteen pounds each. And again they have taken
almost nothing. Frequently the bulk of the catch of an entire season
is taken in three or four days.

Since the winter of 1877 and 1878 the fish are said to have been
much less abundant and of smaller size. In the winter of 1879 and
1880 about seventy-five crews were engaged in the fishery from the
first of November till Christmas. The total catch did not exceed fifty
thousand fish, averaging six pounds each. The small number taken is
partially accounted for by the fact that many of the fish were so small
as to readily pass through the meshes without being caught.

During my visit in May, 1880, large schools of blue-fish were re-
ported along the shore, and a considerable number of shad and other
species were found upon the beach where they had been driven by their
pursuers. A good many blue-fish were also stranded while in pursuit
of their prey. It seemed that there is no reason to believe that the
fish have permanently left the coast, or that they are even so scarce as
is at present claimed, for the men have fished with little regularity, and
have gone only a short distance from the shore, while the bulk of the
blue-fish may have been farther out.

INLAND FISHERIES. 27

Uses. — This is one of the most important of our food fishes, and
surpassed in public estimation only by the Spanish mackerel and the
pompano. It may be said to furnish a large part of the supply to the
Middle and Northern States. It is a standard fish in New York, Bos-
ton and other seaports, and is carried in great numbers into the inte-
rior. Its flesh is very sweet and savory, but it does not keep very well.
In the Vineyard Sound the fishermen are in the habit of crimping their
fish, or killing them by cutting their throats in such a manner that they
bleed freely. Everyone who has opportunities for observing admits
that fish thus treated are far superior to any others. Great quantities
of blue-fish are frozen in New York for winter consumption. They
are still considered unfit for food on our Southern coast, and even in
the markets of Washington, District of Columbia, I have frequently
been stopped by fish-dealers who asked me to assure their customers
that blue-fish were eatable. They are growing into favor everywhere,
however, just as they did in Boston. Captain Atwood tells that in
1865 but very few were sold in Boston, and that the demand has been
increasing ever since. When he first went to Boston with a load of
blue-fish he got two cents a pound for them ; the second year they
were scarcer and h^ got two and one-half cents, and the year after-
wards three cents."

These fish have the last season been plenty all along the coast, and,
at times so very plenty that they have been sold as low as one cent a
pound. An instance is reported to us where the captain of a smack
declined a load offered as a gift, he having just left New York, where
there was no market for them.

There has been good fishing all the season.

BASS.

The past season has been an exceptionally good one. If this fish
has not been so plenty as at some former times, the fishing has been
very good, and the sportsmen have made good catches. The fish have
been large. We hear of two gentlemen who caught seven hundred

28 INLAND FISHERIES.

pounds in two days, and quite a number were taken ranging from forty
to fifty-seven pounds.

TAUTOG.

There has been, we think, a very decided increase in this valued local
fish, and reports come to us of good fishing for them in the fishing
grounds in the bay.

HERRING

Did not appear as usual in the lower waters of the bay, but were
plenty in the Taunton River. The traps that in years past caught
thousands caught but very few.

FLAT-FISH.

These fish, that have usually been very plenty in Seacounet river,
failed to appear there in any considerable numbers ; but we learn were
plenty at Cole's river and other places.

MENHADEN.

These fish came to our coast about the middle of May in small
schools, and the fishing was light all that month. In June they were
here in large bodies and there was good fishing. Later on they moved
eastward, and by the last of June were in Boston Bay.

From there the fishing was transferred to the coast of Maine until
the last of September, when they again came south, and by the 21st of
October were very plenty off our coast, but a heavy storm prevailed
from the 23d to the 29th, after which none were to be found. They
next appeared in immense schools off Barnegat, going south at the rate
of one hundred miles a day.

The season closed about three weeks sooner than usual.

The catch of menhaden by our fleet was as follows :

Steamer G. W. Humphreys 60,000 barrels.

A. M. Hathaway 49,000

Joseph Church 45,000

INLAND FISHERIES. 29

Steamer George Curtis 45,000 barrels.

CoraP. White ^2,000

Fauuie Sprag-Lie 27,000 "

Wm. Wells 19,000 "

Seven Brothers 16,000

Schooner Antelope 18,000 "

Steamer Walter Adams 50,000

Mabel Bird 53,00u "

George Morse 40,000

" Seaconnnet 36,500 "

Fearless 31,000 ''

Schooner Dragonett 1,748

Penekese 3,038 "

Steamer Kingfisher 32,000

Received at Oil Works from other sources 1,800 "

560,086 "

CATCH OF MENHADEN.

1886 232,471 barrels.

1887 175,667

1888 377,607

1889 508,482

1890 '560,086

As expressed b}^ the Commissioners in their last report, it is their
earnest desire to make the report a correct and comprehensive account
of all the fisheries of this State, and it is hoped that all who can will
render such aid as they may towards accomplishing this end.

A correct account of the catches or any unusual occurrence will be
thankfully received and appreciated.

While the Commissioners will spare no pains to collect information
relating to the fisheries, they must depend upon the aid and coopera-
tion of fishermen and others for statistics and other interesting matter
relating to this subject.

We cordially invite all who have had personal observation or experi-
ence of special interest to correspond with us, and thus greatly add to
the value and interest of the report.

30 INLAND FISHERIES.

State of Rhode Island in account with Commissioners of Inland Fisheries.

1889. Dr.

Dec. 31. To Balance due Commissioners $14 12

1890.

April 19. " Freight and express, gold fish 6 30

28. " Brook trout eggs 55 98

" Hatching and raising trout and salmon 31 13

" Express on salmon and trout eggs 5 35

Dec 31 . " Stationery, stamps, envelopes, etc 16 25

" Cans to transfer fry 9 00

" Travelling expenses of Commissioners and expense dis-
tributing salmon and trout fry 61 86

$199 89

Cr.
By cash from State Treasurer

J. M. K. SOUTHWICK,
HENRY T. ROOT,
WILLIAM P. MORTON,

Commissioners of Inland Fisheries.

MHL WHOl LIBRARY

liJH 17US T