Common Codfish 



The movements of the cod are not well understood. They 

 go in schools, but not in such dense bodies as mackerel, herring 

 and menhaden. The movements on and off shore and from bank 

 to bank are due chiefly to temperature influences, the presence 

 or absence of food, and the search for proper spawning con- 

 ditions. In the winter months there is a well-marked movement 

 of large bodies of cod to the shores of New England and the 

 Middle States, and important fisheries are then carried in regions 

 where cod are not found at other seasons. This movement seems 

 to be chiefly for the purpose of finding shallow grounds suitable 

 for spawning purposes. They sometimes make long journeys, as 

 is evidenced by the capture on the New England Coast of cod 

 with hooks in their mouths such as French fishermen use on 

 the Grand Banks. The cod is essentially a deep-water fish, and 

 is usually taken in 20 to 70 fathoms. It has been taken at 300 

 fathoms depth. 



The largest cod recorded from New England weighed 211^ 

 pounds and was over 6 feet long. It was taken on a trawl off 

 the northern coast of Massachusetts in May, 1895. Many examples 

 weighing 100 to 175 pounds have been recorded, but cod weigh- 

 ing even 75 pounds are not at all common. The average weight 

 of the large-size cod caught in the shore-waters of New England 

 is about 35 pounds; on Georges Bank, 25 pounds; on the Grand 

 Bank and other eastern grounds, 20 pounds. The average weight 

 of the small-size cod caught on all these grounds is about 12 

 pounds. 



The principal spawning time of the cod on the New England 

 coast is in the winter, the season beginning as early as Novem- 

 ber, and continuing until April. 



The cod is one of the most prolific fishes. The ovaries of 

 a 21-pound cod have been computed to contain 2,700,000 eggs, 

 and a 75-pound cod, 9,100,000 eggs. The egg is very small, 

 only about y^ to ^V of an inch in diameter, and about 337,000 

 are required to make one quart. When it is remembered that 

 under natural conditions, in order to maintain the normal num- 

 ber of codfish it is only necessary for two of these eggs to hatch 

 and grow to maturity, it is easily seen that the destruction of eggs 

 is very great. If all the eggs of a 75-pound cod should 

 hatch and grow to maturity, the ocean would soon become 

 packed solid with codfish. 



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