AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 3425 



the Magdalen Islands ; do you find that to be the case ? A. I think 

 you must be mistaken. 



Q. Which come in the first, mackerel or herring! A. The herring. 



Q. You say that the Grand Banks, the southern coast of Newfound- 

 land, and that neighborhood, is the great home of the cod. Perhaps 

 you will also add in this enumeration the Labrador coast, all the way 

 up, as far as you are acquainted with it ? A. No ; I would not. 



Q. What is the great home of the cod ? A. On the American coast 

 it is the Grand Banks, and the southern shore and the northeastern 

 shore of Newfoundland. 



Q. That is their great home today? A. I apprehend that that is 

 their great home. 



Q. Their great home, of course, is where there are banks? A. Yes; 

 generally where there are banks, but it is not necessarily so. 



Q. I do not want theory but facts ? A. As to the southern coast of 

 Newfoundland, this is not a matter of theory at all, for they are to be 

 found there in 200 fathoms of water ; they are constantly taken there ; 

 150,000 quintals are caught in that part in from 100 to 200 fathoms of 

 water. 



Q. They are taken there ? A. Yes. 



Q. Do you mean to say that their home is not necessarily on the 

 banks ? A. Yes. 



Q. I do not believe that the absolute necessities of the cod are knowu 

 to science. A. It is, perhaps, a misapplication of the word " neces- 

 sarily," for which I must apologize. What I meant was this, that the 

 reason why the cod is found on the Grand Banks, and the reason why 

 it is found at the depth of 200 fathoms, near to the Grand Banks, is 

 because the Arctic current is exceedingly broad there, and on the 

 southern coast of Newfoundland there is a deep passage for it ; hence, 

 it passes also between the Grand Bank and the coast of Newfoundland, 

 and the waters are consequently cold enough for and consonant to the 

 habits of the codfish. 



Q. Do you think that the cod is not found where there is no Arctic 

 current ? A. I think it is always to be found where there is an Arctic 

 current. 



Q. The depth at which the cod must swim in each locality at each pe- 

 riod of the year would depend mainly on the depth of the Arctic cur- 

 rent *? A. I should not put it in that way. 



Q. I dare say that jou can state it much more clearly! A. I would 

 say that the depth at which they swim is entirely dependent on where 

 their food is to be found. They are not bottom feeders, in the ordinary 

 sense of the term according to the old popular meaning, but at certain 

 seasons of the year they are bottom feeders, and at other seasons of the 

 year they follow their food elsewliei e. 



Q. Will they follow their food irrespective of the coldness of the tem- 

 perature? A. I think not. 



Q. Taking their desire tor food and their desire for cold baths taking 

 it altogether how do you think it is generally true that they are to be 

 found wherever there is an Arctic current flowing ? A. I think tin-re is 

 no doubt that, within certain geographical limits, the cod is always 

 found within the Arctic current ; and I do not think you can name any 

 month during which the cod is not thus found within certain geograph- 

 ical limits. I do not say, for example, that on our coast of America, 

 they are found north of 70 degrees, but in Europe they are found far 

 north of 70 degrees. 



Q. Taking the coast of America, where do you put these geographical 



215 F 



