116 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



special condition the line be necessarily left down longer than usual, a 

 still larger percentage of fish will he found dead, possibly the entire 

 number. But it must be remembered that this fishery is almost.uni- 

 versally prosecuted in the colder waters of the ocean, frequently where 

 the temperature varies from 35° to 42°, which of course serves to pre- 

 serve the fish much longer than a warmer medium. 



(5) The wastage of the fish by dropping off the hook before they can 

 be taken into the boat. This accusation is based upon the alleged prac- 

 tice of using considerably smaller hooks than those required for the 

 hand-lines ; and while it is possible that this may happen occasionally, 

 it is quite certain that the fishermen will graduate the size of the hook 

 so as to obviate such a danger, and even if a considerable percentage 

 be lost, as already explained, this is the concern of the fishermen and 

 not of the general public, the fish thus slipping away being consumed 

 by the scavengers in place of live fish in equal bulk. 



(6) The capture of roe or spawning fish. It is difficult to know what 

 weight to attach to this objection, although it is very generally asserted 

 that a spawning fish will bite at a long-line when it will not do so at 

 a hand-line, the fish at this time being much more cautious iu its ap- 

 proaches. So far as the cod are concerned, however, and the Ga&i&cc 

 generally, it is probable that the force of the objection is lessened by 

 the fact that the long-line is used more especially at the time when 

 the fish are not spawning. As a general rule the cod, haddock, and 

 hake, &c, are known to spawn in the winter months, usually in Jan- 

 uary, February, and March, sometimes a little earlier and sometimes a. 

 little later. It is precisely at this time, when, in consequence of the 

 inclemency of the weather, in North America at least, this mode of fish- 

 ing is more or less intermitted, consequently allowing the spawning 

 fish a sufficient opportunity for discharging its roe undisturbed. This 

 explanation applies more to the offshore fish, however, as the winter 

 inshore fisheries of the New England coast are almost exclusively di- 

 rected to outside fish that have come in to lay their eggs. 



When we bear in mind the very small percentage of deep-sea fish 

 that can be taken by man at all, and the immense yield of eggs of most 

 of the species (amounting to several millions for each female cod, and 

 others in proportion), we can easily believe that an objection of this kind 

 can have but little weight, even if the fish were harried to the utmost 

 during their spawning season. If, however, as is most probable, they 

 are comparatively undisturbed on many fishing-grounds at that time, 

 the objection falls essentially to the ground. 



To the subject of the prolific character of the fish of the sea and the 

 number of eggs laid by some of the more prominent species, reference 

 has been made in another part of this report (page 82). 



There is another consideration which may be borne in mind in regard 

 to the so-called lazy or logy cod which cannot be caught with the hook 

 and line, Many of these are in reality past the period of bearing, as 



