Millheim Journal. [volume] (Millheim, Pa.) 1876-1984, 1880-03-25
w -
AIenhaClen.

The Alenhaden fishery of this country is
tdGn1y OH e&taeatd III kind Ha in the tYoEc ,.apd is
fisheries. The herring family is represented
on the Atlantic coast by ten species, all of
which swim IN immense schools, and several,
such as the sea herring and the shad, are of
great economical importance. In abund-
ance and value these are all surpassed by
the menhaden This fish has thirty dis
tinct names, limited in their use within
narrow geographical boundaries. North of
Cape Cod the name pogy is universally used
while in southern New England the fish is
called the mendaden. The names are de
rived from two Indian words of the same
meaning. About Cape Cod the pogy is re-
placed by hard head shad, and in eastern
Connecticut by bony fish. In western Con-
necticut the species is commonly known as
the white fish, while in New York the
familiar name is mossbunker, a relic of the
Dutch colony of New Amsterdam. The
other names are alewife, bay alewife, pitcher
and green tail. Virginia gives it the name
of the bug fish, bug shad and bug head.
Professor Goode says that sixty or eighty
per cent. of the menhaden taken in the
Chesapeake contain parasitic crustaceans in
their mouths. The parasites do not live on
the fish, but taking posse ssion of every
open mouth, devour the food as ii passes
through the fish's gills. In North Carolina
the name is fat back, whioa prevails as far
south as Florida, and where are also beard
the names, yellow tail and yellow tailed
shad, while in southern Florida the fish is
called sinner and herring. It's deemed i'm
possible to indicate the movements of the
menhaden with certainty. With settled
warm weather they make their appearance
in the inshore water, usually preceding the
shad and the blue fish week or so. The
first schools usually appear in Chesapeake
Bay, in March or April; on the coast OF
New Jersey, in April or early May; on
the south coast of New England, in late
April and May; off Cape Ann, about the
middle of May, and in the Gulf of Maine,
the latter part of May and the first of June.
Returning, they leave Maine late in Sep
tember and October; Massachusetts in Octo-
Der, November and December; Long Island
Sound and vicinity, in November and De-
cember; Chesapeake Bay, in December and
Cape Hatteras in January. Further to the
south they remain more or less constantly
throughout the year. Their northernrange
has become restricted within twenty years
Forty years ago they were caught in i'm
mense schools in St Johns Bay, n. b., and
sometimes in great numbers IN the Bay OF
Fundy. They are now seldom seen there
In 1879 there was a great change in the
limits of their northern range. In July
more than forty steamers resorted to the
usual fishing grounds north of Cape Cod,
where the catch for the season did not eX-
ceed one hundred barrels. The theory OF
the absence of the fish from this old haunt
is that the fish usually resorting there were
killed off, or sought other haunts, probably
the latter. as no one advances the theory
that the menhaden are being eXtermlnated,
and they are vastly more abundant on this
coast. The absence of food, the presence
of an enemy in their old haunts, or the dis
| tasteful atmosphere of the water, would
drive them to new ones. 1t has been sug-
gested that the presence of considerable
numbers of blue fish north of Cape Cod may
be the cause of the menhaden's absence, put
! Professor Goode disputes it, on the ground
that the presence of great schools OF olue
fish among menhaden does not have the et-
feet of driving them away. AT the time
! that blue fish were most abundant, there
was no perceptible diminution in the num-
ber of menhaden. The change OF temper
ature is accepted as the most plausloie
theory, and the Professor is OF the opinion
! that they go off into the sea, under the dull