Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission 1898
THE REAPPEARANCE OF THE TILEFISH. PART TWO TO PART 3
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Page 326
Eight specimens of tilefish were taken by the Grampus in 1892, as indicated in the following table:
Two of the stations (4 and 9) at which tilefish were taken are located on the original tilefish ground, at a point that had not been tested by either the Fish Hawk or the Albatross, although the latter vessel in 1883 dredged within 7 miles of this spot, and in 1886 Captain Collins used trawls still nearer. The other stations at which the fish were found (19, 20, and 24) were considerably farther to the west, a locality that had been examined by the Albatross in 1883 and again in 1884. This locality, near the great submarine channel which cuts through the continental shelf from the mouth of the Hudson to the deep water underlying the Gulf Stream, was the seat of continued investigations during the following season. (See Footnote 1)
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Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission 1898
Page 327
In 1893 the Grampus made five trips in search of the tilefish, set the trawls at 18 stations, and caught 53 fish. Although the trawls were set at 5 places near stations 4 and 9, no fish were taken, so that the greater amount of time was spent near the "Hudson Channel," where on one occasion a single set of the trawl yielded 24 fish.
The record for 1893 is as follows:
During 1894, 1895, and 1896 the Grampus and Fish Hawk were engaged with other work, and it was the general opinion that, although scattered specimens of the tilefish might be found, they were not sufficiently abundant to warrant continued efforts toward their capture.
On February 8, 1897, the 78-ton schooner Mabel Kenniston was overtaken by a gale while on the Georges Bank, and was blown to the westward about 120 miles. The exact location is not definitely known, but it was about 140 miles southwest of No Man's Land, in latitude about 39° 40' N, and longitude 72° 10' W. Haddock trawls
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Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission 1898
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set in 65 fathoms of water, when brought to the surface, yielded a catch of 30 tilefish, weighing from 6 to 15 pounds apiece. These were landed in Gloucester on February 16, where they were distributed, and those who ate them stated that they were "better than salmon." The captain of the Mabel Kenniston thought the catch of tilefish would have been considerably larger had it not been that the dogfish were very abundant and troublesome.
In August, 1898, the Grampus was placed at the disposal of the Director of the Biological Laboratory of the United States Fish Commission at Woods Hole, and a small party of naturalists, quite ignorant of the catch that had been made by the Mabel Kenniston in 1897, boarded the vessel on August 12, for the purpose of examining the surface fauna in the warmer waters of the Gulf Stream, and to make a trial for the tilefish, although the apparatus for the latter work was crude and unsatisfactory. At noon on the 13th of August a trawl was set in 70 fathoms of water in latitude 40° 11' N. and longitude 70° 48' W. After it had been on the bottom--not more than an hour, it was drawn, and 8 tilefish were taken; fully a third of the hooks had been torn away from the rotten gangings.
The capture of these 8 tilefish was a most welcome surprise to those on board of the boat, because the trawl that had been used was in a miserable condition, and baited with squeteague, which are unsuited for this method of fishing.
Moreover, the line rested on the bottom but a comparatively short time. The boat was immediately headed for Woods Hole to obtain the necessary equipment for a more careful survey of the tilefish grounds.
The locality that had been thus examined was about 10 miles to the eastward of the position occupied by the Grampus in 1892, where McDonald and Libbey had caught the first fishes since the mortality of 1882. It was, however, a spot that had not been examined by the vessels that had searched for the tilefish during the intervening years.
Commissioner George M. Bowers very willingly provided the necessary apparatus for a more thorough examination of the tilefish ground, and on the 30th of August the Grampus left Woods Hole, sailed to Newport, where two barrels of small mackerel were taken on board for bait, and early on the morning of August 31 two trawls were set in 75 fathoms of water in latitude 40° 08' N;, longitude 71° 12' W. This was a point about 20 miles to the westward of the location at which the fish were found on August 13, but when the trawl was drawn and the dory had returned to the boat, 7 beautiful tilefish were thrown on to the deck of the Grampus. With these were two large skates, two squid, and a small hake. Two trawls, each 200 fathoms in length, were used, and each trawl was provided with 300 hooks. The tilefish were all caught on hooks that had been baited with mackerel. The skates were taken on hooks that had been baited with squeteague.
The boat then ran a few miles to the eastward and the trawls, again baited with mackerel, were set in 75 fathoms. After remaining out for a few hours they were hauled, and from the deck of the Grampus we could see the sailors tugging at the line and rolling the great fish over into the boat. When the dory came alongside, the men threw 47 beautiful tilefish on the deck. This was the greatest catch since the mortality of 1882, and proved conclusively that the animal was reestablished in its former habitat.
There was time before dark for the trawls to be set again, although they could remain out but a short time; 19 additional fish, however, were taken, making a total of 73 for the entire day. Although many were young fish weighing less than 2 pounds,
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Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission 1898
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several were over 20 pounds in weight. The presence of large numbers of young fish is of considerable biological importance, for it indicates that the fish are breeding, and that those now found on the old tilefish ground are not there as a result of migration.
On the following day, September 1, three sets were made, yielding 78 fish, and as the bait was now exhausted, the Grampus headed for Montauk Point for the purpose of distributing her fare to the soldiers at Camp Wickoff.
After returning from Camp Wickoff, the Grampus was delayed at Woods Hole until the latter part of the month. On September 28 Captain Hahn set sail for the edge of the Gulf Stream, with instructions to find, if possible, the eastern limit of distribution of the tilefish. On September 29 he set two tubs of trawl in latitude 40° 01 N., longitude 69° 54' W., in 77 fathoms.
The trawls were allowed to remain out 2 and 1/2 hours, and when hauled 61 tilefish, 1 dogfish, 12 skate, and 3 eels were taken. At 10 a.m. on the same day the lines were set some 8 miles to the eastward, and, after 3 hours, 59 tilefish, 100 dogfish, and 2 skate were captured. At 3 p.m. 3 tubs of trawl were set about 5 miles farther to the eastward, in 72 fathoms of water, and remained out for 2 1/2 hours. While this set was being drawn into the dory unfortunately the line parted, and presumably half the fish were lost. It was dark and the outer buoy could not be located. The fragment of line contained 38 tilefish, and nearly every hook not occupied by a tilefish had caught a dogfish; indeed, the great number and weight of the dogfish accounted for the parting and loss of the line.
On the morning of September 30 a trawl was set in 76 fathoms, latitude 40° 03' N., longitude 69° 16' W. It was out 3 hours, and when drawn into the dory 19 tilefish, 2 skate, and 4 hake were taken. At this time only 1 1/2 tubs of trawl were used, about 550 hooks. Still farther to the east, at station 12, only 14 tilefish were taken, and, at the easternmost station, 40° 05' N. 69° 06' W., only 12 tilefish were caught, 1 1/2 tubs of trawl line being used.
It would appear from these figures that Captain Hahn had found the eastern boundary of the tilefish "bank," near the sixty-ninth meridian, although even at his last trial several large fish were taken.
This was the last excursion for tilefish made in 1898, and it may be safe to conclude that, inasmuch as on every occasion that the trawl was set in water of appropriate depth the tilefish were found, their area of distribution probably extends from 69° to 73° west longitude, and along a band of the sea bottom of varying width, and from 70 to 80 fathoms in depth, although no tests were made in deeper water.
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Footnote 1. (At bottom of pages 326-327)
The reasons for the movements of the Grampus in 1892 and 1893 are stated in a communication from Professor Libbey, bearing date April 3, 1899, in reply to certain questions which I had asked:
"...With regard to the capture of the tilefish (in 1892), to the westward of the positions where my observations had been made, I would say that the facts which have been published cover only a small amount of the items which are to be derived from a careful and systematic study of the temperature observations. When in Washington, at the time of the conference with Colonel McDonald, I told him that if the tilefish were of a tropical form he might expect to find the fish that year, provided the conditions I anticipated were fulfilled at one of two points, and I marked the positions on a map in his office--one of them being off the Delaware capes, the other south of Martha's Vineyard--and I gave as my reasons that I felt quite sure that the break or depression in the continental edge, representing the bed of the Hudson River, was of such a character and depth as to prevent the tilefish from crossing it, unless the high temperature had proceeded far enough inland, or in toward the land, to make a connection across the upper part of this depression.
If you will examine the charts of the Coast Survey you will find that there is a somewhat remarkable depression on the edge of the continental platform to the southeast of the mouth of the Hudson River. It was my idea that a band of warm waters moving in from the southeast would touch this platform; but as the tilefish apparently was a bottom fish, the migration of the school would stop if the temperature variations did not touch the bottom clear around this depression. If such were the case, the fish would be found off the Delaware capes only; but if the connection had been made the fish would probably be, found in both places."
"When we succeeded in finding the fish in the area where my observations had been made, I immediately suggested to Colonel McDonald that we follow up the edge of the continental platform to the westward, as far as the season and the finances of the Commission would permit, in order to verify the facts and see whether the conditions of the theory which I had advanced really seemed to hold good along the southwestern projection of the continental platform. As this conference took place on the Grampus and no instructions aside from the verbal understanding between us are in existence, the more fact that such work was done at that time and under my direction can hardly be explained in any other way.
"With reference to the other question, that in 1893 no tilefish were found near the seventy-first meridian, while a large number were taken near 72° 30" W., 39° 20" N., this would tend, in my opinion, to confirm this statement, because the location which you have given would seem to show that, if not a permanent break in this Hudson River depression, at least a temporary break had occurred. Some fish must have gone across this break, because we found the proper temperatures and proper conditions all around the sides of this depression in 1892. The warm water may have withdrawn slightly, so as to interrupt the movement of the school of fish along the bottom after that time.
"The answers to your questions all hang together upon the establishment of that one point, and here I think I have temperature observations enough to warrant me in the statement that while we did find the tilefish over the whole area in 1892, it is quite probable that the general conditions had not become permanent along the edge of the continental platform, but that they were still undergoing a species of oscillation. It is my impression that if we have a series of years, in the near future, with a predominance of northwesterly winds, we will be treated sooner or later to a new disappearance or annihilation of that same body of fish, because you will easily see that if the warm band representing the lower layers of the Gulf Stream is ever withdrawn from the continental edge, it will probably be withdrawn in the manner in which I have indicated, and then the conditions for the disappearance of the fish will be at hand once more." --April 3, 1899 Letter from Professor William Libbey, jr. to Professor Baird, US Fish Commission,
END OF FOOTNOTE