548 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OP FISH AND FISHERIES. 



1). The following are the Arctic- Atlantic varieties of the Gadidce : 

 Gadus morrlma L. is louud in all the seas of the northern hemisi)here 

 from 40-77 degrees uortheru latitude, and even enters the mouths of 

 rivers, e. g., the Tweed. In the Atlantic Ocean it is found from New 

 York as far as Hudson's Bay, and from Fiumarkeu and Iceland as far as 

 the German Ocean. Between the 45th and 71st degrees northeru lati- 

 tuile it is found in almost incredible quantities. Kear Spitzbergen 

 Martens did uot (iud it, but according to others it is found there. It is 

 found in moderate numbers on the west and east coast of Greenland; 

 but from Finmarken to the Loftbdeu Islands, and Irom Iceland to Nova 

 Scotia, it is found in enormous quantities. It has been caught near the 

 Faroe Islands, the Shetland and Orkney Islands, the Hebrides, uear 

 Great Britain, the Irish Sea, the German Ocean, e. </., east-northeast from 

 Bamborough, at a depth of 204 feet, the Skagerak, the Kattegat, and 

 the Baltic. It seems to prefer entering the Baltic through the Sound 

 rather than through the Great Belt. On the German coast it is found 

 near Kiel and the StoUergrund, at a depth of 7 fathoms, with a water- 

 temperatu'^e of 4-5 degrees C, and 1.44 per cent, brine ; on the coast of 

 Sweden, near Bohuslau and Ronehamm, on the island of Gothland. 

 Twenty-seven nautical miles from Ronehamm the percentage of brine 

 at a depth of G5 fathoms is 0.82, and 41 nautical miles from Ronehamm, 

 at a depth of 96 fathoms, it is 1.02. it is found as far as Dalaro, near 

 Stockholm, where, at a depth of 5^ fathoms, it is 0.59, and a depth of 

 40 fathoms, 0.75. East and north of North America it is found in every 

 bay and in all shallow waters, in enormous numbers ; uear Newfound- 

 land, Nova Scotia, and Labrador, as far as the Chaleur Bay in Canada, 

 and as far south as Philadelphia. In the Pacific Ocean it is found in 

 the Sea of Ochotsk, the Behring Sea, uear the Fox and Shumaghin 

 Islands, south of Alaska, and ou the west coast of North America, in 

 the bay between the island of Sitka and Kodjak ; therefore between the 

 50th and G7J degrees northern latitude.* 



In three salt-water ponds in Scot hind, in Gallaway, Fife, and Orkney, 

 codfish are kept and flourish very well. Yarrell distinguishes two vari- 

 eties : A darker one, south of Great Britain and near the Dogger's Bank ; 

 and a lighter one, north of Scotland and near the Scotch Islands. 



Fishing. — Fifty years ago the codfisheries north and east of Iceland 

 decreased very much. The Dutch fishers nevertheless caught a good 

 many, proving that the fish were there in considerable numbers, but kept 

 in deep water. Near the Faroe Islands an annual decrease in the number 

 of fish was noticed, while it was caught in considerable quantities on the 

 north coast of Funen and Zealand. At the present time it is frequently 

 caught in nets on the Nymph Bank and Doggers Bank, near the Loffoden 

 Islands and Finmarken, at a depth of 5-6 fathoms, and on the bank ot 

 Newfoundland it is caught with lines at a depth of 3-4 fathoms, and also 

 iularge quantities in the Pacific Ocean between Sitka and Kodjak. 



* Gadus viorrhua is not known to occur in the Pacific Ocean. 



