444 NORWEGIAN COD FISHERIES. 



the principal of which is at the Loffoden islands. The 

 scenery in the vicinity of these islands is of the grandest 

 description, some of their jagged points rising from 

 3000 to 4000 feet above the sea. In this fishery 



" above 20,000 men and 3000 boats are employed, and the 

 average take of fish is estimated at 21 millions. The fishing 

 banks consist of three ledges; the first lying at a depth of 

 about 30 fathoms, the second at 45, and the third at 120 

 fathoms. The fishery is exclusively carried on in open boats, 

 and of late years these cod-fisheries have been extended 

 north to VardO, and a second take is made as late as 

 June." * 



The codfish (Gadus Morrhua, Linn.) as we know, 

 is everywhere more or less a deep bank fish, only 

 coming in towards the coasts in pursuit of the shoals 

 of small fish upon which it preys, or to spawn, and 

 so enormous is its fecundity that it is stated on good 

 authority that " the roe of a cod contains 2,000,000 

 eggs, and if all these came to maturity, one cod would 

 fill the ocean in a few years." "The quantity of 

 codfish annually taken from the banks and shores 

 of Newfoundland and Labrador, may be estimated to 

 be 4,000,000 cwts, worth about i5/- or i6/- a cwt, 

 and averaging 50 codfish to the cwt." f 



As regards the fishing to be had in the warmer 

 regions of the earth, splendid sport may be enjoyed 

 off the coast of Florida at the tarpon fishing, under 

 all the advantages of a brilliant sunshine and the balmy 

 breezes of the south. This fish (Megalops Atlanticus] 

 which is a species of giant herring, has been caught 



* Murray's Handbook for Norway, 7th edit., 1880. Route 20, p. 145. 

 j The Commercial Products of the Sea, by P. L. Simmonds, 1879, 

 pp. 26 and 27. 



