The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-03-25
MGlIliiitleii,

The Menhaden fishery Of this country IS
the largest Of its kind the worlc, and Is
only exceeded IN Importance by the cod
| fisheries. The herring family Is represented
on the Atlantic coast by ten spccics all Of
which swim IN immense schools, and several
such as the sca herring and the shad, arc of
great economical importance. In nbund-
ancc and value these are all surpassed by
the mcnhadcn. 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 tho fish is
called the mcndaden. The names arc de-
rived from two Indian words of the same
meaning. About Cape Cod the pogy ls re-
placed by hard head shad, and in eastern
Connecticut by bony fish. In western Con-
nccticut the species is commonly known as
the white fish, while in New York tho
familiar namc Is mossbunkcr, a relic Of the
Dutch colony of New Amsterdam. Tho
other names arc alcwifc, 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 mcnhadcn taken in The
Chesapeake contain parasitic cr,lstaceans in
their mouths The parasites do not live On
| tho fish, but taking posse ,sion of every
open mouth, dcvour the food rs it passes
through the fish's gills. In North Carolina
the name is fat back, which prevails as far
south as Florida, and where are also heard
the names yellow tail and yellow tailed
shad, while in southern Florida tho ts!, Is
called sinner and herring. 1t Is deemed i'm
possible to indicate the movements of the
mcnhaden 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
| tcmbera and October; Massachusetts in Oclo.
bcr, November and December; Long Island
Sound and vicinity, in November and Dc
ccmbcr; Chesapeake Bay, in December and
Cape Hattcras, in January. Further to the
south they remain more or less constantly
throughout tho year. Their northern range
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 1870 there was great change in the
limits Of their northern range. In July
more than forty steamers resortcd to tho
usual fishing grounds north of Cape Cod,
where the catch for the season did not cx-
coed ono hundred barrels Tho theory of
the absence of the fish from this old haunt
Is that the fish usually rcsorting there were
killed of, or sought other haunts, probably
the latter, as no one advances the theory
that the menhadcn are being cxtcrminatcd,
aud they are vastly moro 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 menhadcn's absence, but
Professor Goodc disputes 1t, on the, ground
that the presence Of great schools Of blue
fish among menhaden does not havc the cf-
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 IL accepted as the most plausible
| theory, end the Professor IL OF the opinion
] that they 50 of into the sea, under the Gull