524 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
stock of fish present on Nantucket Shoals during 1926 was composed 
of much smaller cod than during the preceding years, it was of 
interest to note how this difference* would affect the catches of 
cod made between Rhode Island and New Jersey during the winter 
and thereby gain some idea as to how much Nantucket Shoals con- 
- tributes to the southern migration. 
It was found that small cod were far more abundant than usual 
around Marthas Vineyard during the fall of 1926, enough so to 
receive special comment in the newspapers and trade magazines. 
Furthermore, fishing-boat captains along the western Long Island 
and New Jersey coasts asserted that large cod were not plentiful’ 
during the fall of 1926, but that small cod, below 22 inches in length, 
were much more numerous than for many years past. These data 
indicate that the Nantucket Shoals stock of cod contributes a large 
part of the fish that migrate south each fall to the Middle Atlantic 
States. 
2. No recaptures have been reported of the 1,000 cod tagged on 
northeast Georges Bank during August, 1926. It is probable that 
these fish have not yet made extensive migrations (it 1s not certain 
that they ever will) and that no fishing vessels have been operating 
within the immediate vicinity of the tagging grounds. 
3. Asa result of the cod tagging along the shores of eastern Maine 
during 1924 and 1925, it was found that if these cod migrate at all 
they go to the Bay of Fundy and occasionally to the eastern coast of 
Nova Scotia. These same results obtained during 1926. 
4. Very little is known definitely concerning the whereabouts and 
habits of cod and haddock between 114 and 7 inches in length in the 
western Atlantic. This year, by means of a 30-foot otter trawl, quite a 
few cod and haddock, 2 to 5 inches in length, were taken on Georges 
Bank. The stomach of one Georges Bank pollock contained 12 had- 
dock, 21% to 4 inches in length, but other pollock examined contained 
none. Although these data are not extensive, the indications are 
that young cod and haddock of these sizes (they are less than two 
years old) are present in large numbers on Georges Bank, Browns 
Bank, and other offshore fishing grounds. 
5. A study of scales has shown that cod off southern Massachu- 
setts grow at the rate of about 7 inches each year for the first three 
years. 
“ A more complete discussion of the cod problem is given on page 
601 of this report. 
The investigations of the spawning grounds and the early develop- 
ment and distribution of cod, haddock, and pollock in New England 
waters, carried on since 1924 by Dr. Charles J. Fish, assisted by 
Marie P. Fish and Robert A. Goffin, were interrupted during the 
past year because of the condemnation of the Fish Hawk and the 
necessity for making extensive repairs on the Albatross IT. ‘There- 
fore, the material obtained to date has been arranged and examined. 
Tt includes two series—one from Massachusetts Bay and one from 
the region of the Grand Banks. 
The immediate problem in Massachusetts Bay involved a deter- 
mination of the value of that area as a production center and also 
as a nursery for the large numbers of eggs and larvee, which we 
have reason to believe are being carried in constantly from the east. 
The results to date indicate that local production in Massachusetts 
