EXPERIMENTS IN TAGGING COD. 207 
For the reasons stated it is probable that a smaller percentage of 
wild fish than of tagged fish is taken, and consequently the foregoing 
amount does not adequately represent the real abundance of cod on 
our shores. 
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION AFFORDED BY THE EXPERIMENTS. 
Among a mass of voluntary information furnished by cod fishermen 
in connection with the return of tags, some notes have been received 
which are not without interest. 
From a number of sources it has been reported that the shore cod, 
which, on account of their small size, abundance in the inshore waters, 
and occurrence on grounds not formerly resorted to, the fishermen 
have come to look on as artificially-hatched fish, have at certain seasons 
been found to be feeding to a considerable extent on small lobsters. 
It was not possible to verify all of these reports, but in a few cases 
some of the young lobsters ejected by the cod when caught have been 
examined by the agents of the Commission. Writing from Nantucket 
under date of November 21, 1900, Mr. R. C. Small, who has taken 
great interest in the tagging experiments and forwarded many tags 
from Nantucket, said: 
The school of cod off here are destroying a great many small lobsters. I have 
sent some of the lobsters taken from the pokes of the fish. I have found as many 
as four 3-inch lobsters in one cod. The fish throw them out after being taken into 
the boat. . 
The following interesting notes on the abundance and food of cod 
at the extreme southern limit of the cod fishery have been communi- 
cated by Capt. D. C. Clark, of Atlantic City, N. J.: 
January 31, 1901.—We are catching cod with herring (i.e., alewives) and men- 
haden in them partly digested. 
February 15, 1901.—Cod have been quite plentiful off these grounds this fall and 
winter up to about New Year’s, when, as usual, they leave here and do not return 
till March, when apparently the same run of fish comes back. I am under the 
impression that they go south or away offshore, because we have gone 25. miles 
straight offshore from Absecon Light and have found no more or larger fish than 
inshore, say from 10 to 12 miles. So if they move offshore they must go a consider- 
able distance, otherwise they must go south; and I am inclined to the latter view, as 
once in March I took as many as five croakers out of a large cod, two or three of 
them almost digested and the rest partly digested. One of them was but very little 
changed; it looked to me as if it might have been swallowed about three or four 
hours. We do not catch croakers here till late in the spring, say May or June. Now, 
the cod must trayel very fast or the croakers must be nearer than we know. At this 
time of the year the cod we catch here are full of silversides and sand crabs; occa- 
sionally a small flounder or black-fish is to be found in them, but lately they have 
been unusually full of silversides. I think cod are no more abundant this winter 
than formerly. Of course, there are times when they are more plentiful than others, 
and some winters they are scarcer than others, but on the whole I think they are 
about the same this winter as they were last winter. 
Haddock have been more plentiful here this winter than ever they were before. 
We have also caught more pollock than ever before, having taken some dozen or 
more. Previous to this time we never caught more than one or two in a season. 
