“ A single female may contain as many as 200,000 eggs; and during the summer of 1896 24,000,000 mackerel eggs were artificially hatched by the United States Fish Commission.
There are only a few species of mackerel, but these are widely distributed and everywhere highly valued as food. The flesh, especially of the common species, is excellent when eaten fresh, and is salted in very great quantities. The mackerel fisheries (see Fisheries) are among the most important in both Europe and America. ”

“ The average length is about 12 inches, such a fish weighing about a pound. Occasionally one finds a specimen 20 inches in length with a weight of 3 to 4 pounds. Maturity is reached about the fourth year. Young mackerel are variously called ‘spikes,’ ‘blinkers,’ and ‘tinkers,’ according to their size. The mackerel appear along the coast in spring in immense schools, often estimated to contain hundreds of thousands of barrels, wandering widely and voraciously feeding upon anything smaller than themselves, mainly young fishes ”