— 99 — JOBS. SCHMIDT 



pelagic fry), I concliuio that the liiif,' spawns chiofly only in depths between 

 ca. 50 and ca. 300 meters at a temperature of at least 6°^7°. 



Taking all the data from the dirt'oront parts of the Atlantic into consideration we see 

 that the spawning takes place from March to July, and as is usual comparatively early in 

 the southern late in the northern parts of the region, but further reference to this will be 

 found under the different waters. All in all the ling must be regarded as a fairly late 

 spawning fish. 



With regard to the depths under the surface at which the pelagic fry of the ling 

 occur, the tables show with the greatest clearness that but relatively very few 

 specimens were found near to the surface (hauls with 10 — 25 meters wire). The 

 majority were taken in depths of 30 — 100 meters under the surface, and this holds good 

 not only for the slightly older but also for the smallest specimens. 



As mentioned above, I have not found ling fry greater than 3 cm. and can therefore 

 say nothing certain regarding the occurrence of the older developmental stages. It is most 

 reasonable to conclude however, that they live deep down in the water, as we made but 

 relatively few hauls there. At what size they cease to live pelagically can naturally not 

 be said either, but this probably occurs at a smaller size than for M. hyrkelange. 



§ 3. The geographical distribution 



1. Iceland 

 The ling is not an unimportant fish for the Icelandic fishermen , but as it does not 

 occur everywhere in quantities like the cod, it does not play nearly so great a part in the 

 fisheries as the cod. It is of greatest importance on the south coast, at the Westman 

 Isles, where it is much more fished than at other places at Iceland. This can be seen 

 distinctly when one journeys round the coasts of Iceland and takes note of the fisheries 

 at the different places , but it is also obvious from the official reports on the Iceland 

 Fisheries ("Landshagsskyrslur f;^rir Island"). 



Ling fishery by Icelandic fishing vessels^ 



Open boats Decked boats 



'1900 Ï90Ï Ï902 '1900 1901 1902' 



Sydamtet 44V2 45 79V2 löVs 14 20 



Vestamtet . . . . .■.• iVa Vh 3 ^h ^h 5 



Nordamtet i/io ^/so 



ö^stamtet 1 1 ^/a 



On the north and east coasts the eggs of the ling were constantly lacking in our numerous 

 hauls from April to August, from which it is obvious that the ling does not spawn there. 

 Nor have I seen any spawning fish. On the other hand these were found on the greater 

 part of the south coast, at least from Ingolfshöfdi (St. 115, 1904) westwards. Judging from 

 the condition of the ovaries the majority were spawning in the latter half of May and 



' The numbera indicate thousands. That the fishery with open boats, which by reason of their being 

 more locally tied than the decked boats gives for the rest the best information in this regard, has better 

 results on the east coast than on the north is due to this that the east coast borders on the south coast 

 where the ling is abundant. In the northern parts of the east coast no ling are taken. 



13* 



