BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 59 



judging by where tbe fish are caugbt; but, so far as anything can be 

 told of its physical conformation, does not differ at all from the rest of 

 the sandy slope immediately surrounding it. The fishermen have a 

 theory that there are fresh-water springs in this particular spot around 

 which the cod love to gather, for they can assign no other reason, since 

 there ap])ears to be no more food than elsewhere and no si)ecial feature 

 in the bottom to attract the lish. So persistent are the cod in clinging 

 to this locality that it invariably follows that nets set within its limits 

 come up " well fished," while those a dozen or twenty fathoms outside 

 get very few if any cod. The fishermen confess that they are puzzled 

 to know how the fish get there and escape the walls of netting which 

 surround this " spot" in every direction. jSTot believing it possible that 

 enough cod could be there at once to fill the nets night after night, for 

 months, they arrive at the conclusion that the fish reach the place dur- 

 ing the day, when they ris«^ above and swim over the nets that bar their 

 progress, and which they can see by daylight. 



It is a common thing on the Grand Bank to find schools of codfish 

 staying for weeks, possibly even months, on a small piece of bottom, 

 the outlines of which, so far as catching fish is concerned, are as sharply 

 defined as one could possibly imagine. In these cases it is generally 

 supposed that this peculiarity which the fish exhibit is due to the fact 

 that the bottom they stick to is better feeding-ground than that which 

 surrounds it. So far as mj observation extends, I believe this theory is 

 correct in the main. 



But to return to the cod gill-netters. It follows, as a matter of course, 

 that when the fish are found in such a limited area there is much crowd- 

 ing, and it is said that the nets are literally piled on top of each other, 

 crosswise and every way, each vessel's crew that comes along dumping 

 over tJieir gear regardless of everything except to get it on the "spot." 

 The result is that the underneath nets are often sunk flat on the bottom 

 and catch no fish ; and it naturally follows that much gear is torn and 

 otherwise injured, while far fewer fish are caught than if some better 

 method was observed in setting the apparatus. 



One of the young men above referred to has been using a net that 

 had been treated with Horner and Hyde's preservative, and he says 

 that it shows no signs of decay yet, though it has been in use about two 

 months. He also stated very positively that this net caught one-third 

 more fish than those prepared in the ordinary waj', and which were 

 always set with it in the fta^nc string. This is an extraordinary fact, and 

 is one which is substantiated by the testimony of others. The advan- 

 tages of fishing for cod with gill-nets are fully appreciated by the fisher- 

 men, who, among other things, say that "it don't cost anything to try 

 a new piece of ground, for no bait is riceded." 



Gloucester, Mass., 21arch 3, 1884. 



