2 



Spawninsf Conditions and Spawning- Places of the Gadoids 



It has been mentioned in the Administrative Report that the Committee had passed 

 the resolution at its first meeting in Edinburgh, that the spawning places of the different 

 gadoids were to be carefully studied, amongst other methods by extensive investigations 

 on the occurrence of the plankton eggs. 



The accompanying special reports by Damas, Redeke and Schmidt contain de- 

 taile"d accounts of the material which has been collected for this purpose during recent 

 years, as well as full discussions of the results so far obtained. It will be evident from 

 these papers that such extensive and reliable investigations are now to hand regarding 

 by far the most of the gadoids, that it is not merely the first comprehensive survey which 

 has been obtained, but that we now possess an exact knowledge of the spawning places ot 

 the gadoids. For several species also, and especially for the economically important 

 fishes such as the cod, coalfish, whiting, haddock and the ling, the results of the stat- 

 istical investigations, as we shall see later, confirm our conclusions obtained from the study 

 of the eggs. 



We seem justified therefore in now presenting a summary of these matters. In this 

 place however only the general and main points will be exposed. For more explanatory 

 details and the special evidence reference may be made to the special papers mentioned. 



In this general summary we shall endeavour firstly to describe the spawning places 

 themselves and then to show what special natural conditions are characteristic of the 

 spawning places of each separate species. To facilitate the description 8 charts have 

 been prepared on the same scale as the depth-chart fig. i. To this we would add the 

 remark: it is evident that such charts have to a certain extent a schematic character, 

 the small scale is already evidence of this ; it should be understood, therefore, that these 

 charts will require revision in the course of time'. For example, it will doubtless prove 

 that changes occur from year to year in the resorts of the fishes at the spawning time 

 as also that future, more exact investigations will lead to an extension and more especially 

 a limitation of the spawning regions as at present accepted. It lies in the nature of the 



I We remark specially, that the investigations on the western coasts of Great Britain and France are 

 incomplete for several species. See paper by SCHMIDT. 



