February through April (Ahlstrom and Counts, 

 1955). Based on these facts it was inferred that 

 hake migrate along the Pacific coast between a 

 northern feeding ground (late spring to fall) and 

 a southern spawning ground (winter through 

 early spring). The extent of the adult hake 

 population off southern California has not been 

 well defined, and few catches of the magnitude 

 of those made in the northern feeding grounds 

 have been made off southern California (Nelson 

 and Larkins, 1970). 



Grinols and Tillman (1970) pointed out that 

 some hake populations move from shallow to 

 deep water during their spawning migration. 

 The evidence for such a migration among Pacific 

 hake was weaker than that for latitudinal migra- 

 tion, but it was felt necessary to investigate the 

 possibility by searching for eggs and larvae in 

 the area offshore from the northern feeding 

 grounds. 



Existing reports of fish larvae and eggs were 

 based upon collections made at times of year or 

 with types of tows not well suited for collecting 

 hake larvae. LeBrasseur (1964,2 i965,:' 1970) did 

 not find hake in a large series of plankton col- 

 lections made over a number of years by the 

 Fisheries Research Board of Canada. Most of 

 the samples reported by LeBrasseur were 

 collected by vertical net tows; larval fish were 

 present in less than 5% of these tows. 



Aron (1960) reported on collections made 

 with Isaacs-Kidd midwater trawls during the 

 summer. He did not find hake in oceanic collec- 

 tions but did catch 13 juvenile hake in Puget 

 Sound. After examining existing data it was 

 decided to search for hake eggs and larvae in 

 waters off Oregon, Washington, and British 

 Columbia at a time of year when hake would be 

 expected to spawn. This survey was undertaken 

 during April and May 1967, and also provided 

 a means of obtaining reference specimens and 

 information about the spawning behavior of 

 other fishes. 



2 LeBrasseur, R. J. 1964. Data record: a preliminary 

 checklist of some marine plankton from the northeastern 

 Pacific Ocean. Fish. Res. Board Can., Manuscr. Rep. 

 Ser. (Oceanogr. Limnol.) No. 174, 14 p. 



^ LeBrasseur, R. J. 196.5. Biomass atlas of net zoo- 

 plankton in the northeastern Pacific Ocean, 19.56-1964. 

 Fish. Res. Board Can., Manuscr. Rep. Ser. (Oceanogr. 

 Limnol.) No. 201, 14 p. text, [247 Fig.] . 



METHODS AND EQUIPMENT 



A pattern of stations was laid out between 

 42° to 51°N and extending offshore about 550 km 

 (Fig. 1 and Appendix Tables 1 and 2). Within 

 these bounds, stations were located with ref- 

 erence to certain bathyorographical features, 

 e.g., the Cobb Seamount (U.S. Naval Oceano- 

 graphic Office, 1971). Along the inshore portion 

 of each line, stations were located at the 55-, 

 119-, 183-, and 914-m (30-, 65-, 100-, and 500-fm) 

 isobaths. Along the deeper portions of the lines, 

 stations were spaced at 111 km (60 nautical 

 miles) intervals. Two NMFS vessels at Seattle 

 were used to carry out the survey. The RV 

 John N. Cobb was used to sample at the inshore 

 series of 40 stations, i.e., those located from the 

 55 to 914 m isobaths, and the RV George B. 

 Kelez covered a series of 48 stations beyond the 

 914 m (500 fm) isobath. All stations were fished 

 between April 12 and May 11, a period believed 

 to be near optimum to discover evidence of hake 

 spawning, if indeed any occurred in the area. The 

 John N. Cobb fished 3 Puget Sound and 40 

 oceanic stations between 12 and 19 April; the 

 George B. Kelez fished 11 Puget Sound and 48 



Figure 1. — Location of stations in the oceanic fishing 

 area; 12 April to 11 May 1967. Stations are designated 

 by dots for the RV John N. Cobb and by triangles for 

 the RV George B. Kelez; station positions are listed 

 in Appendix Tables 1 and 2. 



