AWARD OP THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 342$ 



A. I should rather say not ; the report is given independently of this ;. 

 they are adjuncts to a report. 



Q. And not part of the report at all ? A. Certainly not. 



Q. The report is given with that paper ? A. Yes. 



Q. The paper was read as mentioned, and not the report ? A. Yes ;. 

 the paper was read. 



Q. The last one is dated 1872; I merely put the question, in order to 

 ascertain the exact field of inquiry to which you have given your atten- 

 tion ; then, in addition to mining, &c., your principal occupation during 

 some years past has been the examination of the physics of the sea ? A. 

 That has been largely the case; but I would not call it my principal oc- 

 cupation. My profession is that of a geologist. 



Q. And a mining engineer? A. No. 



Q. You are a geologist ? A. Yes ; a geologist merely. 



Q. And even the geography of the sea if we may use that expression, 

 though it is a rather contradictory term is not your primary and prin- 

 cipal occupation ? A. No; it is not my principal occupation. 



Q. I will not trouble you with many questions about the habits of 

 fish, as you do not profess to be an expert on that subject ; your belief 

 about codfish is, that it is not migratory ? A. Certainly. 



Q. And where do you think it goes ; does it disappear during the sea- 

 son, or do you always find it in about the same waters ? A. It is always- 

 in about the same waters ; but I imagine that it has a certain very lim- 

 ited migratory movement, following its food a distance perhaps of from 

 15 to 20, or 50, or 100 miles. 



Q. Do you think that it disappears out of the Gulf of St. Lawrence t 

 A. Certainly not; the cod is there all the winter through. 



Q. It does not go out at any particular time through the Straits of 

 Belle Isle or between Newfoundland and Cape Breton ? A. No ; the 

 cod can be caught in the Straits of Belle Isle up to Christmas. 



Q. And how soon afterwards f A. As early in the spring as the iee 

 moves, and even under the ice. 



Q. The difficulty in catching it in winter is not caused by the absence 

 of the fish but by the presence of the ice ? A. Yes ; the practical diffi- 

 culty then is to get at the fish. 



Q. The fish are then there ? A. Yes. 



, Q. Then the cod do not move from place to place in the gulf in pur- 

 suit of any particular food? A. Certainly not; outside schools may 

 occasionally go in, but this is not generally the case. I believe that all 

 the schools of cod are, comparatively speaking, local in their habits. 



Q. And the cod spawn in cold water ? A. Yes, and in the coldest 

 water. 



Q. In the coldest water short of ice? A. Yes; short of fresh-water 

 ice that is to say, a temperature of 32. 



Q. Up to what figure ! You say that is the lowest. A. That depends 

 entirely upon the marine climate in which the cod are born, so to speak; 

 yon are aware that the habits of the fish on the coast of North America 

 differ materially, in connection with the difference in marine climates, 

 from the habits of the same species of fish found on the European coast. 

 All along the coasts of England, Ireland, and Scotland, and of Norway, 

 the diminished effects of the Gulf Stream are experienced. 



Q. I would like to have you state if you will undertake to do so, and 

 if this comes within your 'knowledge, what is the other and highest 

 degree at which cod will spawn ; you say that they will spawn when the 

 water is little short of 32 degrees, and is the other limit 34 degrees ? A. 

 I would put the spawning temperature between 32 and 40 degrees. 



