222 



Part III — Fifteenth Annual Report 



Table I.— Eggs of Cod — continued. 



May 



April 23, 1895. 

 ,, 24, 1890. 

 „ 25, 1892. 

 ,, 25, 1893. 

 ,, 26, 1892. 

 i s 26, „ 

 28, „ 

 2, „ 

 2, „ 



5, 1891. 



6, 1892. 

 6. 1891. 



11, 1892. 



12, 1891. 

 14, 1892. 

 22, 1891. 

 25, „ 



Station VI, . 

 „ IX., . 



IV r ., • 



Cross-section I., 

 Station L, 

 „ VI., . 



„ in., 



VII., 



„ v., . 



„ VII., 

 „ IX., . 



„ v., . 

 „ vi., . 



„ VIII., 



„ I., . 



12 miles S.E. May 

 Station III., . 

 Aberlady Bay, 

 Station II., . 



Island, 



161. 



Considerable number. 



26. 



270. 



87 (nearly hatcbed). 



21. 



Few. 



18. 



6. 



Ova of cod. 

 30. 



Ova of cod. 

 »> 



108. 



93 (advanced). 

 Ova of cod. 

 44 (advanced). 

 Large numbers. 

 Ova of cod. 



Cod. 



The accompanying table gives the data from 1890 to 1895 inclusive, 

 which have been reported with respect to the occurrence of eggs of the 

 cod in the Firth of Forth district. The ova are seen to have been found 

 from February 19th to May 25th inclusive, a period of about three 

 months and a half ; both the limiting dates belong to the same year, 

 1891. 



Fulton* gives the spawning period of the cod on the East Coast as 

 extending from tbe end of January to the first week of June, a period 

 which overlaps that of the actual occurrence of eggs in the Firth of Forth 

 by about three weeks at each end. There is evidence, however, to be 

 shown below, from the pelagic eggs, that in other parts of the East Coast 

 cod spawn considerably later. 



In the latter end of February the eggs are found in considerable 

 numbers, and then during the month of March they appear to fall off. 

 The greatest number recorded in one haul during March is 50, and such 

 numbers as 6, 3, 3, etc., testify to the sparsity prevailing all over the 

 Forth-area. 



It is interesting to compare this with this table quoted from p. 234 of 

 10th Scottish Fishery Board Eeport : — 



Numbers Examined and Percentage of Ripe Specimens (Cod). 



January . . . 158 . . 0-0 



February 418 0*3 



March ... 192 . . 0*0 



April ... 86 . . 1-7 



May ... 99 0*0 



June ... 86 . . 0-0 



The percentage of ripe specimens in March is seen to be nil 9 though a 

 certain percentage is found both in February and April. This table is 

 compiled from the work of the * Garland,' which was conducted more or 

 less inshore, including, no doubt, the area now under consideration. 



The absence of spawning cod during March in this table, agreeing with 

 the very few eggs found during this month, seems to point to the fact that 

 the cod which spawn the ova found in the Firth of Forth do so more or 

 less in two intermittent periods, separated by the month of March, a 

 * 10th Scottish Fishery Board Report, p. 242. 



