140 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



&c, may also be mentioned among these scavengers, the latter espe- 

 cially finding no difficulty in swallowing entire the largest masses ot 

 offal that are likely to be thrown overboard. There is no doubt what- 

 ever that all such substances scattered in or floating through the water 

 are promptly seized by the lobsters, dogfish, and other species of sharks, 

 and numerous others of the finny tribe that are always on the watch 

 for such material, and it is altogether incredible that with all these 

 agencies working together there should be any appreciable quantity of 

 dead fish or its refuse left at the end of twenty-four hours. 



A large part of the gurry is probably carried off from the grounds by 

 the tides and thus distributed over a wide extent of the sea, the chances 

 of its reaching the bottom and remaining there for any time being still 

 further diminished. Even supposing the skeletons and bones to be 

 thoroughly cleaned and left, and that by their whiteness or other qual- 

 ity they should terrify the fish, another series of scavengers comes into 

 play, namely, the sea-urchins, or sea-eggs. These, which swarm in enor- 

 mous troops in the same waters, concentrate themselves in a very short 

 time upon a bone and devour it as perfectly as the sea-lice do the flesh, 

 leaving nothing whatever. It has been suggested that these sea-fleas 

 and sea-urchins only carry on their operations in shallow water. This, 

 however, is a great mistake, as the dredgings of scientific investigators in 

 the vicinity of Grand Manan and elsewhere show that no portion of the 

 sea-botrom, even to several hundred fathoms in depth, is without them, 

 and, indeed, if there is any difference it is probably in favor of the colder 

 and deeper water. 



The inquiry naturally arises, why, if the chopped fish, including en- 

 trails and roe, constitute an attractive bait to the mackerel sufficient to 

 draw them many miles out of their intended course, and dead fish can 

 be used to bait perch pots, should precisely the same material, in not 

 quite so minute a state of division, terrify and drive away the inhabit- 

 ants of the deep sea °? It is, of course, possible that a great abundance 

 of animal matter floating in the water, or for the moment lying on the 

 bottom, may affect the actual fishery in consequence of the preference 

 on the part of the fish to this matter over the more doubtful attractions 

 of a baited hook. This, however, would be only temporary, and the 

 interruption would soon cease. Possibly, too (and perhaps this is a 

 powerful agency), the presence of this offal may attract the dogfish, 

 sharks, and other predaceous species, so that they may drive away the 

 weaker and comparatively defenseless cod.* 



*At one time the practice of the French fishermen of throwing overboard the gurry 

 was bitterly complained of by the English on the ground that it materially affected 

 the fishing. The explanation given was probably the true one, namely, that this offal 

 attracted an immense number of sharks, dogfish, and other predaceous fish, which 

 concentrated in unusual numbers, and not only devoured the offal, but drove out all 

 the fish from the ground. Nothing was suggested as to any defilement of the sea bot- 

 tom itself by tho accumulation of decaying animal matter. (British Fishery Com- 

 mission Report, p. lxi.) 



