Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/798

792 MACKEREL season; the flesh rapidly becomes soft, and must be eaten soon after being taken from the water ; much of the flavor, however, is retained in the salted fish. The mackerel season is a very busy and profitable one on the British coasts, a single boat's crew sometimes gaining 100 in a night's fishing. They are taken in large quantities by drift nets, reaching about 20 ft. below the surface, and extending for more than a mile ; these are set in the evening, and the fish, roaming at night, are caught in the meshes and retained by the pectoral fins ; they are caught also in seines and by trailing. The mackerel will bite at almost any bait, espe- cially anything resembling a living prey, and will even dart at a piece of red cloth or leath- er ; it generally takes the hook not far below the surface. The Spanish mackerel (S. colias, Gmel.), found abundantly in the Mediterrane- an, occasionally upon the French and English coasts, and perhaps even in American waters (though a different species from that commonly known here by that name), is about as large as the last, with larger scales, and with the dark undulations of the back more complicated and the whole surface more or less spotted with gray ; it has an air bladder, which the common species has not ; it is far inferior also as an arti- cle of food. Mackerel of these and many oth- er species, described in ichthyological works, are found in all the northern seas from Green- land to the Mediterranean, in the Black sea and that of Azov, and in the waters of Aus- tralia, the East Indies, the Cape of Good Hope, the North Atlantic, and the American coasts ; they have everywhere, and from remote an- tiquity, maintained a high rank as an article of food. Not only man, but many species of cetaceans and fish, prey upon the mackerel; among their greatest enemies in our waters are the horse mackerel or tunny and the blue fish. From the perishable nature of their flesh, it is permitted in many English seaports to cry them in the streets on Sundays. The common mackerel of our coast is the S. ver- nalis (Mitch.), of a dark green color above, with beautiful undulations of a darker color extending below the lateral line; the top of the head is dark, almost black, and a large black blotch extends backward from the occi- put to the gill covers ; behind the eyes cu- Common Mackerel (Scomber vernalis). preous; gill covers silvery, sides white with cupreous reflections, and abdomen white ; be- neath the lateral line is a fuliginous line, often interrupted, extending the whole length of the fish. The fins and finlets are much like those of the European species. Mackerel fishing is carried on extensively in Massachusetts and Maine, the principal ports being Provincetown, Wellfleet, Harwich, Dennis, Cohasset, Boston, Salem, and Gloucester in the former state, and Portland, Southport, Boothbay, Camden, North Haven, and Deer Isle in the latter. The ves- sels employed are schooners of from 45 to 90 tons, averaging about 65 tons, and carrying an average of 15 men when the fish are taken with the seine, or 17 men when the hook and line are used. The seine, which is now used by most vessels except in the gulf of St. Law- rence, did not come into general use till 1873. The seines weigh about 2,000 Ibs. each, and are 175 fathoms long by 24 fathoms in width or depth in the middle, the depth gradually dimin- ishing to 11 fathoms at the ends. Corks are placed a few feet apart along the upper rope, while rings, through which a rope called the " purse line " passes, are attached to the lower. A boat about 30 ft. long, manned by 10 men, with 8 oars including the steering oar, is car- ried for casting the seine. Two dories, about 13 ft. in length, manned by one or two men each, are employed to assist the seine boat. The fish are usually seen in shoals just rippling the surface of the water, moving slowly in one direction, frequently to windward. In casting the seine the boat takes a position 15 or 20 yards to the left of the head of the shoal, the ends of the cork rope and purse line are given to the dory, and the seine is thrown out as the boat is rowed in a circuit to the right until the dory, which has been lying still, is reached again. Then the cork rope and purse line are taken by the boat, and the seine is drawn or " pursed " up, enclosing the fish. The ves- sel is next brought alongside, and the fish are taken from the seine in dip nets. The process of seining under favorable circumstances is simple and easy, but with high winds it be- comes difficult or impossible. The fish some- times when surrounded dive, and passing un- der the seine elude the fishermen; at other times they fail to shoal for days together. They may sometimes be kept on the surface until the seine is cast around them by throw- ing bait from the vessel. The experienced fisherman, when a choice is offered him, does not select the largest shoal, from 200 to 250 barrels being as many as can be taken care of at a time. An unsuccessful cast of the seine consumes about two hours. In the gulf of St. Lawrence, the habits of the mackerel being less favorable for seining and high winds being more prevalent in the latter part of the season, the old method of fishing with hook and line still prevails. When this method is employed, each man has a space or berth assigned him of about 30 inches on the starboard rail of the vessel, and is provided with four or six lines of about seven fathoms in length, with " jigs " made by running sufficient pewter on the shank of the hook to cause it to sink readily. The