582 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



to really important results. My object, then, was merely to get as far as 

 possible a general idea of the flsberies as a starting point for future in- 

 vestigations, and I have endeavored in my last report to give all the 

 information which I gained in a counecteil form. I soon became con- 

 vinced that in order to successfully carry on these investigatious a sys- 

 tematic plan had to be followed, so as not to scatter attention over too 

 many points and make the investigation superficial. 



This year I selected the latter part of the fishing-season for my in- 

 vestigations, intending to give special attention to the spawning in all 

 its relations, because this phase ought naturally to be the first object of 

 an investigation, and because already, during my last stay in the Loffo- 

 den Islands, I had become convinced that it presented many peculiar 

 features which, deserved a more thorough examination. This is the 

 season when the young fish come into existence, the same which in a 

 few years will return to the same place as full-grown codfish. An oppor- 

 tunity is thus offered of observing the codfish during the earliest stages 

 of its existence; and although a considerable period elapses between 

 the time when the young fish leave the coast and the time when they 

 return to give birth to myriads of fish, I consider it j)ossible that if we 

 only get a correct knowledge of this fish during the earliest and last 

 stage of its existence, we shall be better able to draiw conclusions re- 

 garding its place of sojourn and mode of life during that i)eriod when 

 it entirely eludes our observation. 



In order to be on the spot early enough to witness the spawning 

 process from beginning to end, I left Christiania near the end of Feb- 

 ruary and arrived in the Loffoden Islands in the beginning of March, 

 therefore before the period when the spawning generally commences. 

 I had thus an opportunity of witnessing the coming in of some of the 

 fish, and found several of my last year's observations corroborated. 

 From information obtained immediately after my arrival regarding the 

 former and the present condition of the fisheries, I could see that this 

 year they were of a very peculiar character. While in other years the 

 coming in may be said to have come to an end about this time, it had 

 this year scarcely begun in full earnest, as the chief mass offish had not 

 yet assembled on the elevated bottoms. I soon found that the cause of 

 this delay was the unusually cold and calm weather which had prevailed 

 in these regions for a considerable time. During the continued coast- 

 wind the temperature of the sea-water had become unusually low, even 

 down to a very great depth. Immediately after my arrival at the fish- 

 ing-station of Henningsveer, I made observations, and found that the 

 temperature of the water near the surface in the Gimso current was 

 only -1-1.20 C, and that even as far down as 100 fathoms it was but 

 little higher. 



In consequence of the coldness of the water the fish kept at an un- 

 usual depth and far from the coast, and very few of them had crossed 

 the ridge (the " Egbakke"). That there was a large number of them on 



