CHAPTER XXII 



DK. LE DANOIS ON HAKE 



But now the French Fisheries Department has done what 

 the British Department ought to have done years ago. Under 

 its instructions Dr. Le Danois has collected all the available 

 information about the fish, and especially all such information 

 as a fishing skipper would wish to know, and printed it in 

 clear and simple language — he hardly ever uses the techni- 

 calities of his craft — with maps which make his meaning unmis- 

 takable. His paper is a model of what these publications 

 should be, and a model of what the fishing industry has for 

 many years demanded (vainly) from British officialdom. 

 It is much too good to be summarized, and the attempt which 

 follows is made with every apology to Dr. Le Danois. 



The Spaivning of the Hake 



As a general rule the hake seems to prefer a depth of 50 to 

 100 fathoms for spawning purposes. But Mr. C. Hellyer told 

 the 1908 committee of a ripe specimen which had been caught 

 at 200 fathoms,^ and to the south-west of Ireland spawning 

 fish have been caught in water nearly 500 fathoms deep. 

 Le Danois remarks that in this region the slope of the ' con- 

 tinental shelf ' is so steep that in the course of a few miles one 

 can get soundings from 100 to 500 fathoms. Possibly, he 

 thinks, the hake spawns here at midwater and not at the 

 bottom. This is, no doubt, a point which his colleagues will 

 soon be enabled to clear up. But farther to the south — where 

 the Continental shelf grows broader opposite to the western 

 mouth of the Channel — and also in the Bay of Biscay hake live 

 in shallower water. 



The floating eggs and newly hatched larvae have been found 

 as follows : 



Region. Season. Investigator. 



Mediterranean, Gulf of Naples . . End of January Raffaele 



North Spain, 43° 23' N., 2° 01' W. ; 55 



fathoms April, May Schmidt 



Bay of Biscay, 43° 39' N., 2° 07' W. ; 



775 fathoms ..... May „ 



Bay of Biscay, 47° 55' N., 4° 52' W. ; 



27 fathoms ..... May „ 



English Channel, 48° 40' N., .50° 04' W. ; 



60 fathoms May „ 



1 (Japt. Bcttess has found ripe hake at 250 and 270 fathoms. 



