SPAWNING OF TDK HADDOCK 



227 



and according to Yarrow the spawning period is the same on the British coast, the .young growing 

 to a length of six or seven inches before the beginning of September. At the Loflbden Isles, accord- 

 ing to Sars, the spawning season of the Haddock takes place a little later, beginning toward the 

 end of February and being at its height late in March. 1 



Mr. Earll's observations are as follows: 



"The fish usually remain on the off-shore banks till the winter is over, and they do not reach 

 Cape Ann until just before the spawning season, which for this species begins about the middle 

 of April and continues during nearly three months, the height of the season being in May. 



" In the spring of 1879 it is thought that two schools visited this coast, the first, composed of 

 iish of large size, arriving early in April and leaving by the middle of May; and the other, com- 

 posed of smaller individuals, reaching the grounds about the 20th of May and leaving gradually 

 after the 1st of July, a few remaining during the greater part of the summer. When the fishing first 

 began the fish were several miles from the shore, but they continued to 'work in,' until there was 

 good fishing at the mouth of the harbor for several days, after which they seemed to move back 

 again, and toward the close of the season remained on muddy bottom, when trawls were extensively 

 used in their capture. 



"Early in May Haddock were so plenty that one man caught 1,881 pounds in one day with 

 hand-lines, and about the same time many different fishermen secured over 1,000 pounds daily. 

 The males were usually a trifle more abundant, though at times the females composed fully half of 

 the catch. The latter average larger than the former, and some days there would be a difference 

 of two pounds in favor of the female. 



"The first ripe females were noticed on the 23d of April, and in the middle of July an occa- 

 sional one had not finished spawning. The first eggs were secured May 5, and others were taken 

 at intervals to June 2, the total quantity being about 250,000. The method of impregnation was 

 similar to that used for eggs of the Cod, and the size of the eggs was one-nineteenth of an inch. 

 Though the number contained in the larger individuals of the species reaches over 1,800,000 (see 

 table), the quantity obtained for hatching purposes at any one time was quite small as compared 

 with the number taken from the Cod or the Pollock, and the quantity of milt in the male fish was 

 very much less than in either of the other species." 



Mr. Earll's observations confirmed those of Professor Sars, that the spawn of the Haddock 

 floats at the surface like that of the Cod, and that the spawning process is in every way similar. 

 The following table gives the result of his enumerations of the number of eggs in Haddock of 

 different, sizes : 



Table showing the number of eggs in Haddock of different sizes. 



Report of the Uuited States Commission of Fish ami Fisheries, part 5, 1879, p. 586. 



