— 110 — 
inter alia, an explanation of one of the principal pomts in the life history of the cod, as 
well as in the fishery for same, viz. the fact that the young cod are found in greatest 
numbers off the coasts of the northernmost districts, where little or no spawning takes 
place. 
Passive movements and distribution of the young cod. 
I therefore endeavoured, during the cruises made with the “Michael Sars” in 1900 
and 1901, to investigate the distribution of the larvae and small fish, which was done 
by towing large nets of 6—8 ft. diameter at the surface of the water. These experiments 
also showed that the young larvae and fry may be taken many miles from the spot where 
they were spawned. The results obtained on board the “Michael Sars” in this respect 
will be found in Fig. 72. The curve marked I shows the distribution of the eggs, II the 
uttermost limits for the young fish of some few centimetres’ length, in June and July 
1901, curve III indicating the occurrence of young fish some inches long in August— 
September 1900. The young fry are thus carried, sometimes for hundreds of miles, 
being sown, as it were, over the banks off the northern coast of Norway, and especially 
in the Barents Sea, where they may be taken the following year in fine meshed 
trawls on the bottom. As in the case of the herring, this drift follows the direction of 
the current, (Fig. 25) and the northern coastal waters thus become the natural habitat 
of the younger stages. It should, however, also be borne in mind that great numbers 
of small fish, both herring and cod, also grow up all round the coast. These young fish 
live under widely different external conditions in the different localities. Those nearest 
the coast itself spend their early years, the first especially, in shallow water, where tempe- 
rature and other conditions vary greatly from place to place along the extensive range. 
Distribution of the youngest bottom stages. 
During the cruises made by the “Michael Sars” in 1901, a fine-meshed trawl was 
employed, and at several places, off Bear Island, east of Vardo, and in the Varanger- 
fjord, small cod of between 10 and 30 em. length were taken. Similar results have been 
obtained on other occasions, and although the observations thus made are far from 
being as numerous as might be wished, they yet suffice to show that small cod, from 
the very earliest bottom stages upward, are to be found widely distributed throughout 
great parts of the Barents Sea. A point of particular importance in considermg the 
stock of cod in northern waters is the fact that even these very young stages are found 
at so great depths as 100—200 fathoms, which renders it possible that their area of di- 
stribution may embrace the whole of the great Barents Sea. This mode of life is very 
different from that customary in more southerly regions, where the younger stages live 
as a rule in shallow water. The same difference in the depths at which the fish occur 
in northern, as opposed to southern waters, also applies to other species besides the 
cod. Thus trawling for plaice is often successfully carried on in the Barents Sea at a 
depth of over 100 fathoms, whereas in the North Sea, the stock of plaice is almost ex- 
clusively restricted to the shallower waters, at depths of less than 30 fathoms. 
The catches hitherto made are sufficient to demonstrate the fact that the compo- 
sition in point of size of the young cod differs from year to year. This may be seen from 
