BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION- 57 



23.— RETURIV TO OI^OVCESTER HARBOR OF THE YOlJIVO CODFISH 

 li.VTCHEU BY THE V. H. FISH €0:TIJIE.<^SI0N. 



By R. S. TARR. 



[From a letter to Prof. S. F. Baird.] 



While in Gloucester recently I made some inquiries in regard to the 

 report that small cod of the species Gadus morrJma were very abundant 

 in the harbor. Although I was there in the wrong season, still I think 

 that I ascertained enough information to establish beyond a doubt that 

 small cod, some as large as 14 inches in length, belonging to G. morrhim, 

 are extremely abundant at Gloucester; and as these belong to the spe- 

 cies which is at x^resent almost entirely deep sea, it seems evident that 

 we must look to some other causes than natural ones to explain the ap- 

 pearance of such great numbers in so small an area, for as far as I can 

 find out only one other school has been seen along the New England 

 coast in shallow water, I talked with several fishermen, and they all 

 reported the abundance of the " silver gray cod," which could not be 

 distinguished by them from the deep-sea cod. The most intelligent and 

 observing of all with whom I spoke was Mr. Edwin F. Parsons, of East 

 Gloucester, who expressed a willingness to correspond with you upon 

 the subject, and also to make preparations of specimens, under your di- 

 rection, if you desired it. 



He told me that in the spring and summer for the two past seasons, 

 while fishing for bait for his lobster traps, he took great numbers just 

 outside of Ten-Pound Island. Their abundance dwindled down until 

 in Februarj' they were least abundant. Last spring the largest fish 

 weighed 4 or 5 pounds, and often in a day 100 jiounds would be the re- 

 sult of his catch. He did not fish especially for these, but simi^ly for 

 bait for his traps. The cod he would sell, while the other fish would 

 serve his purpose. He thinks that he can see three generations, the 

 largest weighing 5 pounds and the others considerably smaller. Al- 

 though he has been fishing for seven or eight years, never before 1882 

 did he find deep-sea cod in any numbers inside of Gloucester Harbor. 

 Taking into account this fact, Mr. Parsons feels confident that they can 

 be no other than the fish put into the harbor in 1879; and he wished 

 me to say that he feels thankful for the money he had made and the 

 chowders he has had, as he expressed it, at the expense of the Fish Com- 

 mission. Considerable enthusuism is expressed au^.oug the fishermen 

 in regard to this matter, and they feel anxious that the work started in 

 1878 shall be continued. Not only are these fish caught in the outer 

 harbor, but even in the innermost docks of the inner harbor, boys, while 

 fishing for flounders, frequently laud gray cod. This is extremely re- 

 markable — that such cod should be found in the very impure water of 



