— 96 — 



in the middle or end of the summer (July, August), whilst at Ireland it also for a great 

 part takes place earlier, in spring or early summer. 



4. North Sea and the Skager Rak 



It is only in the most northern parts of the North Sea and in the Skager Rak that 

 we have found the fry of the hake, nowhere in the central parts, in spite of the invest- 

 igations being (in addition to in the spring) in the whole of July, August and September. 

 It may therefore be considered as certain that the hake spawns nowhere else in the North 

 Sea but in the most northern parts and in the Skager Rak. 



Just as on the Atlantic coasts of Scotland the spawning in the North Sea and the 

 Skager Rak must be late in the year, probably in the middle or at the end of the sum- 

 mer (July and August), which can be concluded from the periods at which we took the 

 pelagic fry. 



There is nothing surprising in our finding the pelagic fry of the hake in the begin- 

 ning of September 1904 and 1905 off the northernmost part of the east coast of Scotland, 

 considering that they were found at the same time of year at all our stations in the 

 neighbouring waters to the N. and W. of Scotland. The water found at this season off 

 the N. E. of Scotland has so high a temperature and salinity, that it does not differ much 

 from the Atlantic water N. and W. of Scotland, and it is therefore not remarkable that the 

 hake should spawn there ^ 



What was more remarkable was that we found no less than 109 pelagic young hake 

 in a haul of half an hour in the beginning of September 1905 at St. 174 in the Skager 

 Rak W. of the Skaw (57° 46' N., 10° 33' E., depth 70 meters). Practically all these spec- 

 imens were small under 1 cm. (see table below) ^, so that they cannot be considered to have 

 been spawned far from the place where they were found. There can therefore be no doubt 

 that the hake reproduces in the Skager Rak, at least in the western part, where as is 

 well-known also considerable quantities of this fish are taken, especially by German trawl- 

 ers in mid-summer in the deeper waters. From this w» should expect that the fry of 

 the hake would also be found in the north-central part of the North Sea, where we have 

 not made investigations at the right time of year, i. e. late in the summer or autumn, as 

 it would be remarkable if the fish spawning in the Skager Rak constituted a separate stock 

 by itself, distinct from those spawning in the north-western part of the North Sea (see 

 Chart). 



It should noticed however that it was only at two stations, that we found them in 

 the Skager Rak, where investigations were made by myself in the beginning of September 

 in 1903, 1904, 1905 and 1906. Nor have they been found by my colleague. Dr. A. C. 

 JoHANSEN, in his extensive investigations with the "Thor" in the Skager Rak in autumn, 

 so that there is still something peculiar about their abundance in September 1905. How 

 far this great production in the Skager Rak stands in connection with the perhaps un- 



* It might be thought naturally that the specimens taken off the Moray Firth at St. 290, 1904 aud 

 170, 1905 had been carried in from the north round Scotland from the Atlantic, but this is not probable 

 as they were smaller than those taken at the stations N. of Scotland. 



^ St. 174, 1905: (1). 65 meters wire; 109 Merluccius: 6 spec: 0— '(2 cm., 101 spec: '/2— 1 cm., and 

 2 spec: 1 — Via cm. 



(2). 25 meters wire; 3 Merluccius (length: 6, 6^/2 and 8 mm.). 



