Evening star., 1925-02-22

! in large schools which sometimes reach
! 20 miles in length and half a mile wide.
Few fishes have a wider distribution
! than the tuna, for it is found in all
warm seas. II belongs to the mackereI
| family. of which it is the largest repre-
sentative. The European varieties do
| not attain very large size. 500 pounds
being considered the maximum, but in
American waters 1000 pounds is not un-
usual The tuna of our coast waters are
| considered the game fish par excellence,
and is called the sea tiger of the Cali
| fornia coast
Shnd Numerous.
The shad. familiar to all fishermen, al
though never known to take bait but
to attack at times skillfully placed fly,
is prolific fish, yielding as high as
10000 eggs a season. 1t is a member
of the herring family, and spends the
Spring months in the rivers. where il
lays its spawn, and the rest of the year
IN deep-sea waters. On the Atlantic
coast 1t enters all rivers between the
st. Johns, in Florida, and the St. John,
| in New Brunswick.
The success of artificial propa CATION
or shad is shown by the fact that along
Z,OOo miles of shore line on the Pacific,
where it never existed before 1t has
been established and remains. in spite
or the heavy toll Of overfishing. next to
the Chlnook salmon, the most important
river fish in America
rms fish does not appear to be a
migrant from warmer to cooler waters
with the advent of Spring, but remains
| IN the deep waters of the ocean untiI
the temperature of the river, waters rise
10 apout-~60 degrees The shad attains
iength OF more than feet and a
| weight or IA pounds, but its average
weight is about pounds.
Ihen comes the herring. whose
relatives are the sardines, alewiyes
ana the menhadens, To be found
throughout the entire North Atlantic
ocean, this fish is probably the most
important food fish in the world
Most of the fish are sold fresh, either
Tor human food or for cod bait. II
mas never attained the popularity ON
American tables that 1t has on those
/ Of Europe.
In our waters it Is largely taken
| north of Cape Cod. Immense uuan-
titles of the young are taken and
packed and sold as sardines. 1t has
been estimated that the annual catch
or herring now exceeds 10000, 900, 900.
The herring, unlike most fish. is par
ticularly fine favored at spawning
time and the fisheries are carried on
| busily during that season.
Tautog Good Food Fish.
| Another fish valued for its food Is
the tautog, found from New Bruins
wick to the Carolinas. North of New
! York 1t is called the tautog, while
New York knows it as the blackfish.
Farther south 1t is called the oyster
| fish. It's average weight is about
three pounds. 1t has hard scales, a
hard mouth and is as slippery as an
! eel. Close relatives of the tautog are
the hogfish of Florida waters and the
| fatheads of southern California
The butterfish form a large group
of the small fish. famous for the
| quality of their flesh. 1t is known
as the dollarfsh in Maine, the butter
| fish in Boston and Norfolk and the
pumpkin seed in Connecticut.
The harvest fish, which ranges from
Cape Cod to Brazil and is especially
abundant off the Virginia Capes, is
another of the butterfish family. 1t
reaches a length of 10 inches. And
| there is the Soup to be found between
1 Cape Cod and the Carolinas 1t is
I called the soup in New England, the
| purgy In New York and the fair
maid farther south. getting back to
/ the purRy again at Charleston. AS
"a food Ash 1t is highly esteemed for
| its flavor.
The other well known Atlantic
| fishes are the salmon. the sword fish
/ Emclt. tilefsh and. last but by no
means least. the American lobster.