— 12 — 



The light which Hjort's and Helland-Hansen's investigation has thrown upon 

 this hydrographical situation, has in reality only rendered the riddle more profound 

 and more prominent. This however, only arouses and incites to renewed investigations, 

 which promise the richest results for the fishery which is carried on here to such 

 a great extent. It is known that this fishery is seasonal, — which points towards 

 an annual periodicity in the hydrographical conditions, — and it is known that the 

 spawning of the cod does not take place everywhere, or all at once, on the Grand 

 Bank, but that in the course of the season different parts thereof are visited by the 

 shoals of fish, and later again forsaken. The fishermen are obliged to follow 

 these movements, but at haphazard, as the natural conditions which determine the 

 migrations of the fish have hitherto remained unknown. When the »Michael Sars« 

 expedition, coming from the southward, steamed over the Grand Bank, the fishery 

 there was in full swing. This was not the case farther to the north in the 

 neighbourhood of St. Johns. Hjort regards this as standing in relation to the 

 hydrographical conditions, which may be understood from the section given above. 

 On the northern part of the bank, cold Arctic water under 0" was found at the 

 bottom, in which the fish cannot live and spawn; at the southern edge, towards 

 the deep hollow of the Atlantic, boreal water with a temperature of + é^too" was 

 found; i. e. the same temperature at which the spawning on the Lofoten Banks 

 and to the south-east of Iceland had taken place six months earlier in the year. It 

 would seem to be to the advantage of those countries which send fishing fleets to 

 Newfoundland, to further extend and utilise such scientific discoveries. There has, 

 however, been no haste exhibited in so doing, although attention was called to the 

 matter already at the Council meeting in September 1912, and an investigation line 

 from St. Johns urgently recommended. During our visit to England, we endeavoured 

 in vain to elicit statements as to this. And even now, we do not know how ways 

 and means are to be found for connecting the investigation of the Newfoundland 

 Banks and adjacent waters with a future general reconnaissance of the North Atlantic 

 ocean. We hope that the Council may be successful at the present meeting. 



g. The Portuguese coast and the plateau of the Azores. 



It is a well known and agreeable fact, that in Portugal and the Portuguese co- 

 lonies of the Azores there exists a lively interest in the investigation of the sea. The 

 proposal for an Atlantic reconnaissance was strongly supported on the part of Por- 

 tugal at the Geographical Congress in Rome, and Dr. Chaves, the Director of the 

 Meteorological Institute at Punta Delgada, has given us closer details as to the 

 means available. Two cruisers, of which one is stationed on the coast of Portugal, 

 and the other at the Azores, can, with the permission of the Portuguese Govern- 

 ment, carry out quarterly cruises, and the Meteorological Institute at Punta Delgada 

 is well equipped for scientific treatment of the results. Director Chaves shares our 

 view, that a survey of the condition of the Atlantic at different seasons can only be 

 obtained by international co-operation, and he has been empowered by his govern- 



