102 THE COALFISH OR SAITHE 



Growth of the Fish 



The growth varies enormously. Skagerrak saithe 1| years 

 old were found to measure 15 inches ; Murmansk fish were 

 only 11 inches at 2 J years. 



An experimental catch of 645 fish caught by Hjort at Bred- 

 sund near Aalesund gave : 



(a) In summer, fish of from three to eight years old, the 

 majority being four, five, and six years. 



{h) In winter, fish of from six to eighteen years old, the 

 majority being seven, eight, and nine years. 



The growth is, in suitable waters, fast and regular. The fry 

 have been found by Mcintosh to average IJ inch in May and 

 June at St. Andrews. In May at the Faroes they measured 

 1| inch to 2 inches ; in July on the average SJ inches ; in Sep- 

 tember 4J inches. Off northern Ireland they measured 3J to 

 3 J inches in May and June. Damas has proved that growth 

 on the Norway coast is much slower in high latitudes than 

 farther south. At Romsdal he found the average size to be : 



Inches. Inches. 



2 years . . . 12J 6 years / . . . 25^ 



3 „ . . . 17i 7 , 26i 



4 ., . . . 20i 8 , 27i 



5 ,, ... 221 



and he has caught coalfish up to eighteen years and 39 J inches. 

 The lessons which Hjor-t drew from the life-history of the saithe 

 were : 



(a) the power of ocean currents to carry fry from the Atlantic 

 or North Sea to the Arctic Ocean, and — 



(b) the fact that coasts hundreds of miles in extent are 

 dependent for their fish supply upon spawning in distant 

 waters. 



This humble species is a warning against the false thinking 

 implied in the use of such terms as ' local researches ' and ' local 

 fishes ' in connexion with market fish of wandering habit. 



