Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1883-12-20
Habits Of the MackereI.

The United States fish commissions
steamer Albatross has sailed on another
trip for investigating the habits of those
fish indigenous to American waters. She
will cruise from 100 to 200 miles off
shore, and between the latitude of Cape
Hatteras and Newport, paying special at
tention to mackerel This vessel was
built and fitted specially for this import
ant work. The mackerel fisheries are i'm
portant industries. and the Albatross
will pay special attention on this trip to
an investigation which, it is hoped, may
prove to be Of some practical benefit.
What becomes of the mackerel in the
winter and whence do they come in the
early spring are mooted questions. Could
these queries be answered satisfactorily
it is thought by some people that the
mackerel fishing could be conducted in
the winter season and thereby prove more
profitable to those engaged in it. Lieu
tenant Schroeder, executive officer Of the
Albatross, in conversation with a re-
porter, said mackerel were a gregarious
fish, and had no liking for warm water,
and whether when the surface water
became too cold for them they dove
under the warm bank of the gulf stream
down to the bottom, or whether they
remained at or near the cold wall north
ward of stream were queries the solu-
tion of which would be of great value.
In pursuance of such investigation he
said it was important to trace the fish
as late in the fall and as early in the
spring as possible. Mackerel, too, he
said are never seen in south Hat
teras, but the distance north of this
latitude to which they may possibly go, is
as yet unsettled. The Albatross will pay
attention also to the habits of the succu-
lent shad, the migration of which are as
little understood as those of mackerel
One of the Oldest fishermen alive, and
one, too, who has paid special attention
for years to the mackerel fisheries on this
coast, is Captain George Janyrin, Of Full
ton market, New York. He said to a
reporter: ''No man ever caught or saw a
mackerel at any time of the year below
the latitude of Hatteras. I have known
them to be caught around Cape Ccd as
late as January and as early as the 1st of
March in fifty fathoms of water, off Cape
Henry. L have caught them" said he,
in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, off Gaspe
Head, in November. They have been
caught, also, Of the largest kind, in Sal
mon river, Labrador, when fishermen
have been seining for Goldfish, in the
fall and winter Of every year.
Vessels often run through schools
of them, often between here and Hatteras
and out of the fishing season. My theory
is that the mackerel are partial to GER
tain temperature of water, and as the
surface water gets cold they go down
deeper and off shore until they reach the
bottom or very near there.
"The mackerel caught early in the
season are very poor or thin, and often
have suckers attached to their sides.
These suckers are similar to lamper eel
and live in the mud. I think this shows
that in the winter months mackerel go
very near the bottom and off soundings,
but not south of the Gulf stream. Mackerel
deposit their spawn in the spring and
seek shoal water, or a locality where
other fish are scarce, to do it. They
spawn around the coast of Nova Scotia
as well as on our coast, and one never
or seldom sees spawn in a fish after
July. Did the weather permit, think
and old Gloucester fishermen agree with
me-that mackerel could be caught all
the year round somewhere north of Hat
teras, but, of course, at varying distan-
ces off shore"