BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 149 



hatching of salmon roe. The apparatus can be arranged in a much sim- 

 pler manner, and the time used for hatching is much shorter. As the 

 matter is of great interest both from a scientific and practical point of 

 view, and as the question relates to an enterprise which, if it meets the 

 expectations, will exercise the most powerful influence on one of the 

 most important iudustries of our country, I deem it entirely proper that 

 the Government should extend some aid, so that Captain Danuevig ? s 

 experiments can be made according to the most approved method. 



According to my observations, the tender young of the cod in the be- 

 ginning keep near the surface of the water, but after a while seek the 

 bottom and during the first year stay near the coast. Later they go 

 farther out into deep water, but nevertheless during the first two or three 

 years keep principally in the fiords and sounds, partly on sandy and 

 partly on rocky bottom. Not until they have become sexually mature 

 (in the fifth or sixth year) do most of them go to the outer banks of the 

 sea, to return in spring for the purpose of spawning. 



Christiania, November 1, 1882. 



CIRCULAR INVITING CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARDS A HATCHING ESTAB- 

 LISHMENT FOR SALT-WATER FISH ON THE AMERICAN PLAN. 



It may be considered as sufficiently well known that during the last 

 twenty or thirty years our coast fish have steadily decreased, and that 

 during the last few years this decrease has even been more rapid than 

 formerly ; so much so, in fact, that many of our fiords where formerly 

 large masses of fish were found are now comparatively deserted. It may 

 also be considered as well known that the number of fish along the en- 

 tire coast of Norway from Christiania to Cape Lindesnses has likewise 

 decreased to an alarming degree, especially in places where a dense 

 population and the high price of fish make the fish more sought after. 

 Such is the case in the neighborhood of Arendal. 



The probable cause of this decrease is undoubtedly excessive fishing, 

 which takes away more fish than nature can produce; and if this state 

 of affairs continues for any length of time, the consequence will be, that 

 some of our more important kinds of fish will become extinct. 



The natural character of bur coast justifies this supposition, for al- 

 though the bottom is particularly adapted to maintain large masses of 

 fish, in must be remembered that on our coast the fish are crowded to 

 gether within a comparatively narrow space, viz, the narrow channel — 

 hardly 1 Norwegian mile (7.01 English miles) — along the coast, and 

 that therefore excessive fishing will exterminate the fish sooner on this 

 coast than on the other coasts of the North Sea, where the coast waters 

 are connected with the great fishing-banks in the open sea, and where 

 the loss is soon made up again by fish immigrating from the sea. 



