708 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



density and temperature. The fisliermen of Cape Ann have often caught 

 them with 70 to 80 fathoms of line, between Brown's and George's 

 Banks, where the soundiug-hne indicated a much greater depth. The 

 finding of X)ebbles and small stones in their stomachs is not an uncom- 

 mon occurrence. The fishermen regard these as an unfailing sign that 

 the fish have either just arrived or are about to leave the bank. These 

 stones may play no small part in adjusting the specific gravity of the 

 fish to that of the stratum of water in which they are to move. 



There seems to be a tendency for the large fish to remain in deeper water 

 or nearer the bottom than the small, and usually beyond a certain depth ; 

 the deeper one fishes the larger the fish. Formerly, in hand-lining from 

 deck on the banks, the vessels often anchored in 80 or even 00 fathoms, and 

 the catch averaged over two-thirds large; but in hand-lining from dories 

 they seldom fish in over 50 and usually less than 35 fathoms, as they 

 find it difficult to handle so much line, and the catch runs about two- 

 thirds small. The same is true in fishing at different depths at the same 

 time and in the same place. Thus, of two men fishing side by side from 

 the deck of a vessel, the one with his hook on the bottom will catch much 

 larger fish than the other who lets his line but part way down. Larger 

 fish are also taken on the trawl than on the hand-line, for the former 

 lies constantly on the bottom, while the latter may be raised to any dis- 

 tance above it. 



The size of the species varies greatly with the diiferent individuals. 

 The boat fisherman visiting the rocks and ledges along the shore in sum- 

 mer catches fish weighing from 2 to GO pounds, the average being a trifle 

 under 9 pounds. The school-fish run larger, those on the south side of 

 the cape, in the fall of 1878, averaging about 12, and those in Ipswich 

 Bay, later in the season, fully 20f pounds. Probably the latter were 

 the largest as a school that have ever visited the shore. On George's 

 Bank, where the largest cod-fish are taken, trips are sometimes landed 

 where the average weight wauld be fully -40 i)ounds round, but such 

 cases are exceptional. The largest specimen that we have seen was taken 

 by the schooner Northern Eagle, Capt. George H. Martin, in Ipswich 

 Bay, March 10, 1879, and is now in the collectious of the National Mu- 

 seum. It measured 5 feet and 2 inches, and weighed 99 i pounds when 

 landed, probably weighing fully 105 pounds when taken from the water. 



We have also authentic record of a specimen captiu^ed off Cape Cod 

 in February, 1878, that weighed 107 pounds after being eviscerated, 

 which is equivalent to over 125 i)Ounds round. Other instances have 

 been recorded in the local ])npers in the vicinity of Cape Ann, from 

 time to time, where cod of unusually large size have been taken ; and 

 the Cape Ann Advertiser has very recently noted the capture of one 

 weighing 180 pounds by a vessel belonging to Newburyport, Mass. 

 Whether this was the actual weight or an estimate we have not learned. 



Of the many specimens weighed and examined during our stay in 

 Gloucester the average weight of the females exceeded that of the males 



