12. The bayous along the coast.

13. I do not know. I have seen them in all depths, from 3 feet to 6 fathoms.

14. It does. They never come before it gets warm in May.

15. They do; yes, but generally they go in schools according to size.

16. They are, in July and August, about 1 inches long.

17. They leave in September; in schools and by degrees.

20. Some sort of insects, or it may be their own eggs; they are constantly sucking in the tide.

28. They are in all the bayous along the southern coast.

20. I cannot say what enemies the spawn has; but shark and bluefish destroy the young.

31. There is a bug, with several feet or legs, found outside on the cheek.

32. They suffer heavily; but, on account of their very great numbers, are scarcely perceptibly diminished.

33. I do not know of any.

34. No kind. These fish are never captured.

35. There are none used.

36. No vessels employed of any tonnage.

40. High winds do; the small ones are cast ashore in rough weather. 41. None.

44. None.

45. None.

47. None bought or sold.

53. It has no history. There is none manufactured.

54. There is no market, for there is no oil.

55. There is no market; there is no scrap.

58. I cannot say; they are never caught.

74. Statement of George Gage, Beaufort, S. C., January 20, 1874.

Referring to your circular of December 20, 1873, relative to the "menhaden fisheries," &c., I have to report that I have no evidence of the existence in this district of either of the species of fish therein referred to. There is no fishing here in a commercial or statistical sense.

75. Statements of Joseph Shepard, Saint Mary's, Ga., March 30, 1874, and January 28, 1875.

I have the honor to state, relative to the species of fish known as the mossbunker, that after making inquiries of men who have made a business of fishing on the coast of Georgia and South Carolina, and who have fished for the mossbunker farther north, that none of that species

are found south of Cape Hatteras. I may mention that only one instance of the mossbunker being taken bere has come under my observation.

2. Other fish are abundant here, but have diminished in numbers within the past twenty years, and I desire to respectfully call your attention to the probable cause. It is a well-known fact that brook trout will not remain in creeks below lumber-mills if the sawdust is thrown into them, for the sawdust, it is supposed, gets into their gills. The same reason would account for fish of all kinds being less plentiful now along the coast of Georgia than heretofore, as there is an immense amount of lumber sawed; and in most cases the sawdust is put in the

water.

17. In November, north of Hatteras, in a body. 18. Supposed to go east to the Gulf Stream.

19. Possibly along the edge of the Gulf Stream.

20. Probably animalculæ, as their mouth seems formed for straining water.

34. For other fish, cast-nets are used.

35. Length, 6 feet; spread, 12 feet.

I beg to be allowed to add that a species of shell-fish called prawn (or shrimp of large growth) is very abundant on this coast during the months of March, April, and May. The length of body, after the out side shell is taken off, is from 4 to 6 inches. They are considered a great delicacy, and may be canned by a very simple process and made an article of commerce.

There is also a small fish found here in great abundance at all seasons of the year, called finger-mullet, a very sweet fish. There is reason to believe that this fish would rival the sardine if canned in the same or a similar manner. Its length is from 5 to 6 inches.

SAINT MARY'S, GA., January 28, 1875. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your circular of the 23d ultimo, relative to statistics of fisheries, and to reply that since my last communication I have learned from one of the Saint Andrew's, Ga., bar pilots that schools of fish called menhaden come into that sound with the flood-tide and go out with the ebb from the month of April until October, but not in as great numbers as found at the North. The same fish are also seen in calm weather during the winter months outside the sea islands in about seven fathoms of water in large schools from 3 to 4 feet below the surface. My informant says he has caught them at such times with snatch-hooks.

Very respectfully,

Hon. SPENCER F. BAIRD,

JOSEPH SHEPARD.

Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, Washington, D. C

76. Statement of J. F. Hall, Brunswick, Ga., April 11, 1876.

First. They do not frequent the coast in this latitude. Second. There have been a few schools seen off this coast. One was in Saint Andrew's Sound, latitude 31° 3', in the spring of 1871. I saw one myself on May 30, 1872, latitude 31° 15', in about eight fathoms of water. One school was reported off the coast by pilots in the summer of 1874.

77. Statement of Capt. David Kemps, New Berlin, Fla., February 10, 1875. 1. Bony fish.

2. Greater.

3. Increased very much.

6. Come in the river about December in large schools about the full of the moon; more numerous at that time than any other, and continue until May.

7. Swim high and low at times, and make a ripple and attract seagulls.

8. Not known. No one has made it a study.

9. Regular, and seem to increase both in size and number.

11. More numerous on the flow of the tide.

12. Near the mouth of the river.

13. All depths; they have been caught as low as 17 feet.

14. Not in the least.

16. The young fish leave the river from July to October, and then in solid bodies mix with young shad.

19. In the river, within 30 miles of its mouth.

20. Supposed to live on small animal-matter in the water.

21. They certainly spawn within the limit of 30 miles from the bar, as they are never seen higher up. They are supposed to spawn in the creeks and coves of the river, as they are alive with the young in the summer and fall of the year.

22. They are mixed indiscriminately

23. Has never been noticed.

24. No particular temperature.

28. Yes; in the creeks and coves of the river.

29 Yes; late in the season, say about April.

30. Catfish, garfish, crabs, eels, trout, and other fish.

31. At times we find a few fish with fish-lice in their mouth.

32. Sharks, jew-fish, porpoise, bass, and catfish are their greatest enemies, to both old and young, and they destroy a great many.

33. Yes; about four years ago they died in great numbers and were washed upon the shore of the river.

34. No particular nets are used. What are caught are in shad-nets having a 5-inch mesh. They are about 17 feet deep and all lengths.

There are about fifty nets on the river. I suppose during the season they will catch about five hundred bushels. They are a nuisance to the shad fishermen.

36. None employed.

39. Yes, more, in shad-nets, on flood-tide toward high water.

40. More numerous with northeast wind.

41. None.

42. What few are caught are used for manure.

43. None.

I will here state that these fish have steadily increased in size and numbers for the past five years. They are supposed to be much more plentiful on the coast outside of the bar.

78. Statement of Charles Koch, Jacksonville, Fla., January 15, 1874. 1. Yellow-tail.

2. In the waters of the Saint Mary's, Amelia, Bell River, and Cumber land Sound in greater numbers than other fish.

3. Increased.

5. No.

6. In February the yellow-tail appear in large schools.

7. They swim high in water only about 2 or 3 feet deep, and are only known by their capture and by the movements of sea-birds.

8. From the Atlantic Ocean, and they return by the ebb to the ocean. 9. Regular.

10. No nets are used; they are caught by hundreds with hook and line.

11. They come with the tide, and return to the ocean with the ebb. 12. Oysterbanks and sandy ground, in clear water.

13. From 3 to 5 feet; as much as 12 feet from the surface.

14. In water from 60 degrees and upward the fish are more solid and fat.

15. Appear on the breeding grounds in companies, and are of every size and age.

16. Young fish are seen and caught from 4 to 9 inches long.

17. Leave the coast in September by degrees.

20. Small shrimp, sandbäre, and barnacles.

21. In the small creeks from March to the end of April.

22. I find that these fish go in pairs.

23. Yes.

24. Sixty to 75 degrees.

25. One to 2 feet near the bottom.

26. The eggs sink to the bottom, and become attached to oysterbeds, stones, grass, &c.

28. The young fish are found in abundance in the small creeks.

29. Yes.

30. Wild ducks, crabs, and barnacles destroy spawn and young fish. 31. Worms and lampreys are often found attached to the outside and on the gills; in few cases in the mouth.

32. Sharks and salt-water catfish attack these fish.

33. No.

34. They have been captured in nets by accident, but the fishermen here only fish for finer kinds of fish.

35. Nets for catching other fish are from 100 to 200 yards long and 10 feet deep.

36. None.

39. Yes; on the morning tide.

40. Yes; north and west wind have effect on them.

42. These fish are used as bait and as food for hogs and chickens, or

as manure.

43. None.

79. Statement of D. P. Kane, Matagorda, Tex., March 1, 1874.

Capt. William Nichols, a pilot residing at Saluria, Tex., informs me that in September, 1872, great quantities of pogies drifted upon the beach at Saluria, and that the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and Matagorda Bay were full of them; he did not observe whether they were fat or not.

I have been engaged in pogy fishing in Maine for eight years; have fished from Florida to Mexico, but have never seen or heard of menhaden ever being south of Cape Hatteras, with the above exception.

APPENDIX 0.

MISCELLANOUS ITEMS REGARDING THE USE OF FISH FOR MANURE. 1. The earliest printed account of the use of menhaden for a fertilizer, being an extract from an article by Ezra L'Hommedieu, 1801.

Experiments made by using the fish called menhaden, or mossbunkers, as a manure have succeeded beyond expectation, and will likely become a source of wealth to farmers living on such parts of the sea-coasts where they can be taken with ease and in great abundance. These fish abound with oil and blood more than any other kind of their size. They are not used for food, except by negroes, in the English West India Islands; and the price is so low that it will not answer to cure them for market. They are easily taken in the month of June, when they come near the shores in large and numerous schools. These fish have been used as a manure in divers ways and on different soils.