DEPARTMENT OF THE .VAT ML SERVICE 



8 GEORGE V, A. 1918 



barrier, a point worthy of more attention from palaeontologists. The isolation of 

 Teredo, and the warm-water mollusks referred to, is recent, and the occurrence of oyster 

 shells 40 miles southwest of Halifax, and at Cole harbour; in Chaleur bay and north, 

 as far as Montreal, indicates that a milder climate once extended from southern New 

 England to the waters of the St. Lawrence. 



V. REAEIXG B.C. SOOKEYE >SALMOX IX FRBSH-WATER. 

 (Dr. C. McLeax Eraser). 



After references to well-known attempts to rear Atlantic salmon and sea-trout, 

 especially in Scotland, without permitting them access to the sea, and pointing out 



that slower growth and smaller sizes were apparent when retained in fresh water, the 

 author states that in the fall of 1912, sockeye from Harrison Lake hatchery were 

 placed in the small rearing ponds. New Westminster, B. C. These had been 

 hatched in the spring of 1913, and in 1915 males were found to be ripe, and after 

 yielding milt they recovered condition. But the females did not become ripe until 

 their fourth year (1916), when they were from 9 to 11 inches long, and their eggs 

 were rather small, but they were artificially fertilized, and an attempt to hatch them 



made. Study of the scales showed that these pond-reared fish indicated a growth which 



can be compared to that of the river sockeye to the end of the second year, but the) 

 third year's growth showed a decrease, and the fourth year's a still further decrease 



in the rate. The average growth in inches each year shown by the author is as 



follows : — 



Sockeye i-eared in fresh-water... 

 Sockeye from Eraser river (fifth 



year) 



Sockeye two years in fresh-water. 



Most of the Eraser river fish remained one year only in fresh-water after hatch- 

 ing, and the author gives figures for these. There is no question that the sockeye 

 mostly die soon after spawning, but the ix)nd-reared fish recovered after spawning, 



and seemed none the worse. This environment renders the fish apparently more like a 

 fresh-water species, and indicates, in the author's opinion, a close relation to the 



Genus Salmo. 



VI. AGE AND GROWTH OF POLLOCK— (Pi:oF. J. W. Mavor). 



The pollock has in recent years so greatly increased in commercial importance 

 that information upon its age and growth is valuable. The author found that young 

 pollocks' scales show no winter rings, indicating that during their first year they live 

 in shallow water. They occur in 2 to 20 fathoms, and in about a dozen hauls of the 

 drag seine interesting catches of these young pollock were made; but when about 

 11 cm. probably move into deeper water, so that the seine does not secure them. Two 

 length measurements were adopted in these studies, namely, the standard length, the 



