62 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



preceding the spawning-season, the sturgeons eat nothing, while after 

 spawning they are exceedingly voracious. In the rivers, the young stur- 

 geon feed on the larvae of insects and small shell-fish, and, in the sea, on 

 small crabs and shell-fish. The little " belouga " is an exception, feeding 

 on other fish. The common sturgeon, the " sevriouga," and the " ster- 

 liad," (Acipenser ruthenus,) also feed on shell-fish. When the sturgeons 

 are one year old, they leave the rivers and go into the sea, to return as 

 soon as they are able to spawn. 



A very peculiar phenomenon in the Ural is the winter sleep of fish, 

 especially of the sturgeon. From the end of June, the different kinds 

 of sturgeon as well as scaly fish come to the Ural for the second time. 

 For some time they can be seen swimming and playing in the stream, 

 but as soon as the water grows cold this vivacity disappears ; they seek 

 the deep places, ("yatoves,'') in which the bed of the river abounds, and 

 hide there as soon as the surface is frozen. In their state of torpor, these 

 fish secrete a viscous matter, which formes a thin layer over their whole 

 body. The fishermen call this the " cloak " of the fish. This torpor, or 

 sleep, of the fish is caused by severe cold and want of air under the 

 water, and is therefore a consequence of the excessive weakening of the 

 respiration. The fish eat nothing during this state, for nothing is found 

 in their stomach but the viscous matter spoken of above. The great 

 sturgeon alone (Acipenser huso) seems to take food during his winter- 

 sleep, for some have been caught having scaly fish in their stomach. 



The deep places, or " yatoves," of the Ural are from 7 to 8 " eagenes " 

 (252 to 278 feet) deep, and the fish there pile themselves upon each other 

 in thick layers. According to the account of experienced fishermen, stur- 

 geons there associate only with sturgeons, and scaly fish with their own 

 kind, never intermingling : the " sinetse " (Abramis ballerus) is the only 

 scaly fish which has been found among the sturgeons. 



Watchmen posted near the " yatoves," every one of which has its own 

 name, notice exactly in what quantities the fish seek refuge there, and 

 of which kind the fishing will be most productive. These watchmen 

 develop a most astonishing sagacity in this respect. 



3. — WEALTH OF FISH IN THE CASPIAN SEA. 



Pallas, who visited the shores of the Caspian Sea in 1773, speaks of 

 the immense quantities of fish in this sea. He says, in addition to other 

 things, that, in the spring in the Koura, near the bar of Salyan, 15,000 

 sturgeons were frequently caught in one day ; and that when the fishing 

 was interrupted for one day only, the river, whose depth is 4 " arsheens," 

 (80 inches,) was, at every bar, filled with a vast number of fish, piling 

 themselves one upon the other to such a degree that the topmost had 

 their backs out of the water. At that time, there was a bar at Gour- 

 yew, at the mouth of the Ural. It is related that at this place schools 

 of sturgeon rushed at the bar in countless numbers, and would have 

 upset it if the Cossacks had not driven them to flight by cannon-shots 



