AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 3409 



With regard to the action of gurry and fish offal in the harbors of New- 

 foundland, that will depend entirely on the season of the year, and also 

 upon the locality where it happens to be thrown. I consider it has a 

 very prejudicial effect inshore, and I have described this in a paper 

 which I published some time since. 

 By Mr. Whiteway : 



Q. Will you now state what you know about the distribution of food 

 aud the habits of the cod, and your reasons for the great abundance of 

 the fish on the Newfoundland shores ? A. In the first place, with re- 

 gard to the spawning habits of the cod. The cod is known to spawn 

 during every month of the year on the coast of America. In Trinity 

 Bay I select Trinity Bay as one large place, where the water is not 

 less than 300 fathoms cod spawn during six months! of the year. We 

 know this, from the fact that the spawn dealers get the spawn from the 

 fishermen during that period; moreover, the fishermen catch the cod 

 with the spawn running from it. In the second place, the Straits of 

 Belle Isle is the great spawning place. Cod chiefly spawn there in 

 August, at that period of the year when the water has been cooled 

 down to a great extent by salt-water ice. You will observe an immense 

 difference between ordinary fresh- water ice and salt-water ice produced 

 by the sea- water itself. 



Q. Point out the spawning localities of the cod on the Newfoundland 

 coast. A. First, there is the Straits of Belle Isle, particularly round 

 about Belle Isle Island. In the second place, along the Newfoundland 

 coast there are Notre Dame Bay, Bonavista Bay, Trinity Bay. I have 

 no special knowledge about Conception Bay. The cod spawn from May 

 to August all along the south coast of the island, and on the north part 

 of the Grand Banks. 



Q. That may be considered as the great spawning ground for the cod 

 and the great codfishery in the world ? A. Certainly it is, all around 

 that coast; I also include part of the Great Banks. I know in regard 

 only to a small portion of the Grand Banks as a place where they spawn. 

 I have no doubt they spawn all over the Banks, but I have only received 

 information about a certain portion. There is a remarkable fact with 

 respect to the spawning of cod, that while they spawn in May on one 

 side of the entrance to the gulf, they spawn in September on the other 

 side, and that arises from the simple fact that the water is not cold 

 enough till September. With regard to the mode of spawning of cod 

 aud all these fish, it is important to bear in mind that they spawn in mid- 

 water, with the male underneath the female. That is also the way with 

 mackerel. Almost all sea-fish, except those enumerated by Commis- 

 sioner Baird the other day, aud two or three I will add immediately, 

 spawn in mid water. You can always distinguish between the egg of 

 the fish whose spawn floats at the surface aud the egg of the fish whose 

 spawn adheres to the bottom. The eggs of all those fish whose spawn 

 floats has the orifice through which the fructifying principle of the male 

 enters always downward. The eggs of all those fish whose spawn is at 

 the bottom has the orifice always upwards. The milt of the male is 

 always poured over the eggs of those adhering to the bottom and un- 

 der those floating 



Q. Will you state your views with regard to the bait generally on the 

 shores of Newfoundland and the Dominion ; also the habits of the bait 

 itself, the places where found, general distribution, and its effect upon 

 the cod fishery ? A. With regard to herrinsr. which is perhaps gener- 

 ally known to be the best, both in Europe and America, you can always 

 oatch fish with herring. 

 2U F 



