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28 Thirty-Third Annual Meeting 
ripe males and gathered other evidence supporting the belief 
that they spawn at sea but a few miles off shore and some proba- 
bly in inside waters, such as Newport river. 
DISCUSSION OF MR. WORTH’S PAPER. 
Mr. Titeomb: I want to ask Mr. Worth whether it makes 
any difference about laying that rockfish on its left side or right 
side, except for the convenience of the person stripping ? 
Mr. Worth: With a left-handed man it is better to use the 
right hand. 
Mr. Titecomb: About the rockfish in that part of the river 
where they take the hook and line are some of those fish ripe 
when caught ? 
Mr. Worth: I could not answer that, but I believe not. It 
is forty or fifty miles below the spawning ground. 
Q. Do you know from your experience whether the rockfish 
will take the hook and line when they are ripe? 
A. I do not from my experience, but from observation at 
Weldon, and what the fishermen say, I believe they will not take 
the hook and line when they are in a spawning state. Appar- 
ently the taking of the hook below Weldon is after the occur- 
rence of the spawning above when they drop down the river. 
Mr. Titeomb: I think that is a point that is well worth ob- 
serving in the future and as closely as possible. We have been 
trying the rockfish at Port Deposit on the Susquehanna. It is 
there where they take them with hook and line. I have an im- 
pression that the fish as a rule do not ripen until they are above 
there, although ripe females have been taken in nets below Port 
Deposit. 
Mr. Worth: That is true. 
Mr. Titcomb: IJ want to say to the members of the society 
that this rock-fish question is a very important one and we want 
to get hold of them wherever we can. Now if any of you know 
where the rockfish is caught in abundance and in a ripe spawn- 
