244 EIGHTH PACIFIC SCIENCE CONGRESS 



or larvae out to deeper water. The second migration is the return of 

 the young individuals in the course of 2 or 3 years to the coastal waters. 



The third migration is a movement back again to deeper water for 

 spawning. A fourth migration is the dispersal of the fish after spawning 

 (observed through the trawlfishing). As the spawning shoals are made 

 up of at least two or three groups, it is clear that these migrations occur 

 annually. 



However, the fact that the biggest individuals (larger than 60 cm.) 

 are more numerous in deeper than in shallow water, shows that the 

 older merluzas do not return to shallower water. It is also quite possible 

 that the fact that males are not found in the samples to a length of 

 more than 52 cm is not due to the fact that the males do not attain a 

 larger size, but is caused by an earlier cessation of the shoreward migra- 

 tion than it is the case with the females. 



These two points leave open the possibility or probability, that 

 there are concentrations of bigger merluza both male and female in 

 deeper waters still not touched by fishery, forming a reserve from whose 

 spawning activity recruitment of the merluza stock will continue without 

 danger from the fishery. 



Finally we have the diurnal migrations of the merluza in search 

 for food towards the bottom at dawn and away from the bottom at 

 nightfall. 



As far as assessment of stock is concerned, the investigations under 

 review have shown that the hake occur in great quantities off the Chi- 

 lean coast from Coquimbo in the north to south of Talcahuano, and 

 that only small patches of this vast region are touched by the trawl- 

 fishing in its present state. Further, the study of the migration has 

 shown (1) that for part of the year the hake is dispersed either in in- 

 termediate water layers far from the bottom or farther seawards where 

 it is not fished upon and (2) that part of the spawning occurs in off- 

 coastal regions where no trawlfishing is carried out. 



These facts show that for the time being no danger of overfishing 

 of the stock is present. The areas not fished upon and the concentrations 

 of hake not touched by the fishery are so large that they constitute a big 

 reserve of hake to be drawn upon for the recruitment of the stocks 

 fished. 



However, as a considerable expanding of trawlfishing for hake can 

 be expected in Chilean waters, and out of the consideration that "pre- 

 vention is better than cure"— and in question of conservation of fish 

 stocks— far more easy than cure, it was recommended that certain mesh 

 regulations should already now be introduced in order to protect the 

 smaller and— from a commercial point of view— less valuable individuals. 



