Report of the commissioner for 1877.

  • United States Fish Commission
Date:
1879
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the commissioner for 1877. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    63/1134 page 47
    in the transportation of California salmon to Europe. That gentleman was instructed to proceed to Liverpool and obtain a supply of the turbot and sole, suitable for transfer, to be brought back to Boston on the Cunard steamer, with such facilities as he could obtain on that occasion. A correspondence had been entered upon some time before with Mr. F. Moore, the accomplished curator of the Free Public Museum of Liver- pool, who made many inquiries as to the proper localities and the best mode of obtaining these fish. Mr. Mather reached Liverpool on the 17th of November, and, report- ing himself to Mr. Moore, found that gentleman had invoked the assist- ance of the authorities of the great aquarium of Southport. Proceeding to this place, Mr. Mather was received very cordially by Mr. John Long, the superintendent of the aquarium; but owing to the inclemency of the weather it was impossible to obtain any number of fish, and in order to have a proper supply it was necessary to secure the further services of some of the fishermen. Unfortunately the weather, after Mr. Mather’s arrival, proved to be exceptionally stormy, and the few fish obtained were so badly bruised that they died shortly after being introduced into the tanks of the Southport aquarium. There was some question in re- gard to Mr. Mather’s free passage in the shipment of the fish, and it was not until the 3d of January that the shipment was actually made. This consisted of six turbot and twenty-six soles, the vessel upon which they were placed being the Siberia, of the Cunard line, Captain McKay com- manding. Mr. Mather, with his precious charge, experienced a series of accidents on the voyage homeward. In the first place the tanks were found to have been placed in such proximity to the steam heating pipes that the water soon rose to a temperature of 72°, much higher than is suited to this fish. On arriving within sight of Cape Cod, on the 16th of January, only two soles survived, and after consultation with the captain as to a suitable place of deposit, it was concluded to place them overboard, and they were accordingly left at a point on the Stelwagen Bank, two miles off Kali ant, in 18 fathoms of water, the surface tem- perature be ng 31°. It is hoped that, as in the case of the shipment of California salmon, the experience thus gained will enable us to avoid a failure on another occasion. Mr. Mather is of the opinion that by keeping the temperature at as low a degree as possible one of the most serious dangers may be avoided. lie does not recommend anything in the way of gravel or sand in the tanks, as the fish would be liable to abrasion, in the motion ot the vessel. He also recommends that the fish, before such trans- portation, should be kept in captivity and fed for at least one month, as this will show whether the act of capturing has in any way injured the fish. Anticipating the occasion of taking these fish from the wharf at Bos- ton for deposit at some suitable point in the harbor, application was made to the Treasury Department for the service of the revenue-cutter?
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