COD, POLL CK. HADD O CK AND HAKE. 3 49 



depreciated or destroyed by means of dams or by exhaustive fishing, the 

 Codfish have disappeared in equal ratio. This is not, however, for the 

 same reason, as they are taken only with the line, at a rate more than 

 compensated by the natural fecundity of the fish. I am well satisfied, 

 however, that there is a relation of cause and effect between the present 

 and past condition of the two series of fish ; and in this I am supported 

 by the opinion of Capt. U. S. Treat, of Eastport, by whom, indeed, the 

 idea was first suggested to me. Capt. Treat is a successful fisherman and 

 dealer in fish on a very large scale, and at the same time a gentleman of 

 very great intelligence and knowledge of the many details connected with 

 the natural history of our coast fishes, in this respect worthily representing 

 Capt. Atwood, of Provincetown. It is to Capt. Treat that we owe many 

 experiments on the reproduction of alewifes in ponds, and the possibility 

 of keeping salmon in fresh waters for a period of years. The general 

 conclusions which have been reached, as the result of repeated conversa- 

 tions with Capt. Treat and other fishermen on the coast, incline me to 

 believe that the reduction in the Cod and other fisheries, so as to become 

 practically a failure, is due to the decrease off our coast in the quantity, 

 primarily, of alewives; and, secondarily, of shad and salmon, more than 

 to any other cause. 



" It is well known to the old residents of Eastport that from thirty to 

 fifty years ago Cod could be taken in abundance in Passamaquoddy Bay, 

 and off Eastport, where only stragglers are now to be caught. The same 

 is the case at the mouth of the Penobscot River and at other points along 

 the coasts of Massachusetts, a much more weighty reason than that of 

 merely enabling a few salmon to enter the streams in order to permit their 

 capture while on their way. 



"Whatever may be the importance of increasing the supply of salmon, it 

 is trifling compared with the restoration of our exhausted Cod fisheries ; 

 and should these be brought back to their original condition, we shall 

 find, within a short time, an increase of wealth on our shores, the amount 

 of which it would be difficult to calculate. Not only would the general 

 prosperity of the adjacent States be enhanced, but in the increased num- 

 ber of vessels built, in the larger number of men induced to devote 

 themselves to maritime pursuits, and in the general stimulus to every- 

 thing connected with the business of the sea-faring profession, we should be 

 recovering, in a great measure, from that loss which has been the source 

 of so much lamentation to political economists and well-wishers of the 

 country." 



The Atlantic Tom Cod, Microgadus tomcod, is found only in the 

 Western Atlantic, ranging from New York at the south, to Cape Sable at 

 the north. It is ordinarily known as the Tom Cod, but in the Bay of 

 Fundy, and in various places south of Cod, it is called the "Frost 



