548 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



J). The following are the Arctic- Atlantic varieties of tlie Gadidcc : 

 Gachis morrhua L. is found in all the seas of the northern hemisphere 

 from 40-77 decrees northern latitude, and even enters the mouths of 

 rivers, e. g., the Tweed, In the xVtlantic Ocean it is found from Kew 

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

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

 tude it is found in almost incredible quantities. Near Spitzbergen 

 Martens did not find 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 Loffoden Islands, and from 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, near 

 Great Britain, the Irish Sea, the German Ocean, e. f/., 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 Stollergrund, at a depth of 7 fathoms, with a water- 

 temperature of 4-5 degrees C, and 1.44 per cent, brine ; on the coast of 

 Sweden, near Bohuslan and Eonehamm, on the island of Gothland. 

 Twenty-seven naiiticiil niiles from Ronehamm the percent;ige of brine 

 at a depth of 05 fatiioms is 0.S2, and 41 nautical miles from llonehamm, 

 at a depth of 96 fathoms, it is 1.02. It is found as far as Dalai o, 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 ; near 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, near the Fox and Shumaghin 

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

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

 oOrh and 07^ degrees northern latitude.* 



In three salt-water ponds in Scotland, 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 kepC 

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

 offish was noticed, while it was caught in considerable quantities on the 

 north coast of Funeu 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 bunk ot 

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

 in large quantities in the Pacific Ocean between Sitka and Kodjak. 



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



