THE SEA FISHERIES OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 129 



eels and lampreys, portions of the bellies of cod and mackerel, the eyes 

 of these aud other hshes, and indeed almost any form of refuse fish. 

 Dead fish of any kind are also used to constitute bait for taking lob- 

 sters. 



(7) The roe offish. — There is no question but that the roe of hsh con- 

 stitutes a very large percentage of the food of the inhabitants of the 

 sea, as it is only by the provision for the destruction of the large propor- 

 tion that particular species are prevented from increasing in undue and 

 overwhelming numbers. It is rarely that any fish can resist the attract- 

 iveness of fish roe, the eggs of trout aud salmon being used largely in 

 California for this purpose when nothing else has any attraction. 



Besides the use of the roe of fishes as food for man it constitutes an 

 important element on a large scale in the sardine fisheries of Europe. 

 The salted roe of the cod and of the mackerel is prepared for this pur- 

 pose aud shipped, to the extent of mauy millions of pounds, about 

 9,000,000 pounds of cod roe (worth $600,000), and one or two millions of 

 that of the mackerel, having been furnished in one year by Norway. 

 Small shipments have been made from the United States to Europe for 

 tlie same purpose. 



These eggs are used especially for attracting schools of sardines into 

 the vicinity of the gill-nets, and for that they are considered almost in- 

 dispensable.* It is a question whether this same roe could not be em- 

 ployed advantageously iu the mackerel fishery as a toling-bait of a 

 more satisfactory character even than the finely-chopped flesh of fish 

 It keeps much more readily than any other, and its use, if not already 

 attempted, should be experimented upon, as the roe both of the cod and 

 the mackerel until recently has been a refuse product. It is worth 

 considering whether it may not be prepared and used to advantage for 

 the purpose in question, t 



(8) Squid. — The squid, one of the cephalopods, a group of the mol 

 lusks, is also a highly important element in the question of bait for the 

 capture of deep-sea fishes, especially the cod and its allies, and occurs 

 in overwhelming numbers along the entire coast of the eastern United 

 States and of the Dominion. Of this there are two principal forms 



* According to De la Blanchdre, Le Peche et les Poissons, 1,500,000,000 of these fish are 

 brought into the port of Concarueau alone, this being only one of many from which 

 the industry is carried on in Franco, Spain, aud elsewhere. 



t All bait as above referred to is used fresh whenever it can be done. It is, however, 

 preserved in various ways, sometimes by drying, more frequently by salting. The 

 use of ice of late years has come into play very extensively and constitutes a necessary 

 element iu most fisheries whether for the preservation of the bait itself or of the fish 

 when caught. For the most part the bait is preserved by keeping ice in contact with 

 it. It is probable, however, as already suggested, that hard freezing may more ad- 

 vantageously be substituted in many cases as being more likely to retain the same 

 attractiveness that freshly-caught bait presents. It is quite probable that by using 

 special apparatus and adjustments tho hard freeziug may be conducted at very little 

 expense. 



S. Mis. 90 9 



