116 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES, 
special condition the line be necessarily left down longer than usual, a 
still larger percentage of fish will be found dead, possibly the entire 
number. But it must be remembered that this fishery is almost uni- 
versally prosecuted in the colder waters of the ocean, frequently where 
the temperature varies from 35° to 42°, which of course serves to pre- 
serve the fish much !onger than a warmer medium. 
(5) The wastage of the fish by dropping off the hook before they can 
be taken into the boat. This accusation is based upon the alleged prac- 
tice of using considerably smaller hooks than those required for the 
hand-lines; and while it is possible that this may happen occasionally, 
it is quite certain that the fishermen will graduate the size of the hook 
so as to obviate such a danger, and even if a considerable percentage 
be lost, as already explained, this is the concern of the fishermen and 
not of the general public, the fish thus slipping away being consumed 
by the scavengers in place of live fish in equal bulk. 
.(6) The capture of roe or spawning fish. It is difficult to know what 
weight to attach to this objection, although it is very generally asserted 
that a spawning fish will bite at a long-line when it will not do so at 
a hand-line, the fish at this time being much more cautious in its ap- 
proaches. So far as the cod are concerned, however, and the Gadide 
generally, it is probable that the force of the objection is lessened by 
the fact that the long-line is used more especially at the time when 
the fish are not spawning. As a general rule the cod, haddock, and 
hake, &c., are known to spawn in the winter months, usually in Jan- 
uary, February, and March, sometimes a little earlier and sometimes a 
little later. It is precisely at this time, when, in consequence of the 
inclemency of the weather, in North America at least, this mode of fish- 
ing is more or less intermitted, consequently allowing the spawning 
fish a sufficient opportunity for discharging its roe undisturbed. This 
explanation applies more to the offshore fish, however, as the winter 
inshore fisheries of the New England coast are almost exclusively di- 
rected to outside fish that have come in to lay their eggs. 
When we bear in mind the very smali percentage of deep-sea fish 
that can be taken by man at all, and the immense yield of eggs of most 
of the species (amounting to several millions for each female cod, and 
others in proportion), we can easily believe that an objection of this kind 
can have but little weight, even if the fish were harried to the utmost 
during their spawning season. If, however, as is most probable, they 
are comparatively undisturbed on many fishing-grounds at that time, 
the objection falls essentially to the ground. 
To the subject of the prolific character of the fish of the sea and the 
number of eggs laid by some of the more prominent species, reference 
has been made in another part of this report (page 8&2). 
There is another consideration which may be borne in mind in regard 
to the so-called lazy or logy cod which cannot be caught with the hook 
and line, Many of these are in reality past the period of bearing, as 
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