BUSINESS MEN ON HAKE PEOBLEMS 119 



naturalists when they find time to consult business men, has 

 noticed a curious condition which attacks the hake particularly 

 in southern waters — and more especially off Cape Ghir. Fre- 

 quently, if a slit be cut in a fish just above the tail, it is possible 

 by passing the hand firmly down the body from head to tail 

 to squeeze out through this slit practically the whole of the 

 flesh tissues in a semiliquescent form. Such fish must, of 

 course, be distinguished from the ordinary ' soft ' hake. All 

 hake become more oily and less ' flaky ' and therefore less 

 valuable when they have been gorging on oily fish like mackerel 

 or herring or pilchard. But these Cape Ghir fish are useless 

 for the market. 



The condition is known in America as ' mushiness ', and 

 a special commission sat under the auspices of the Federal 

 Fisheries Bureau for some time to inquire whether in the ca^e 

 of the Pacific hake it was or was not due to a parasite. The 

 writer has been unable to find the recorded results of this 

 inquiry, but it suggests a useful line of investigation for the 

 Permanent International Council when funds permit of the 

 employment of a fish pathologist. 



Miscellaneous Notes hy Mr. Bees 



According to Mr. Kees, hake is never caught on the extreme 

 westerly grounds at night ^ ; off the north of Scotland and west 

 of Scotland on the South Bona (Gairloch) and on the Dubh 

 Artach grounds, it is caught only at night ; whereas on the 

 grounds to the westward of the latter, from Inistrahull north 

 of Malin Head, to the Barra Head grounds, it gets into the 

 trawls both by day and night. Here is an interesting line of 

 inquiry into the effects of depths and temperature and light 

 on the movements of hake, which is not likely to be covered 

 by the hake investigations at present planned by the Inter- 

 national Council — and might be overlooked unless the French 

 directors of the researches get into intimate touch with owners 

 in Milford, Fleetwood, Swansea, and Cardiff. 



Then it appears that the Galway Bay hake are distinguishable 

 from fish caught on other grounds ; they are black, oily, and 

 soft 2 — but not ' mushy ' — and do not keep very well. The 

 fishing here off Inishmore — ^in what the old cartographers used 



^ Dr. Bowman writes that in the North Sea the hake feeds principally at 

 night in the upper-water layers, so trawlers fish for it during daylight, when it 

 is at the bottom. 



2 Capt. R. Bettess of Fleetwood has observed that hake are always firmer in 

 flesh when caught off rocky ground. West of the Lewis he finds firm ' flaky ' 

 fish. In the Minch the few big hake caught are inclined to be soft. 



