146 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
RESULTS OF ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION. 
• No subject connected with the fisheries of New England seems to be of greater 
consequence than the results which apparently have been secured through the hatch- 
ing and planting of millions of cod fry by the E. S. Fish Commission in the coastal 
waters of this region. When this work was first inaugurated there was much skep 
ticism among the fishermen, who believed that little could be accomplished by man 
in this direction. However, much to the surprise and advantage of those most inter- 
ested, young cod have made their appearance in great numbers on many parts of the 
coast, particularly off southern New England, where, for at least a quarter of a century, 
they have been either very rare or unknown ; and it seems to be demonstrated that 
as a result of this work a new and important summer cod fishery has been established 
on Nantucket Shoals and on the fishing- grounds immediately south. 
During the summer of 1890 the Fish Commission received information showing 
that up to the first of August large catches of cod of small or medium size had been 
made by the fleet of schooners fishing south or east of Nantucket. This fishery was 
begun by a few small vessels in 1889, one of which, the Eliza, landed about 300,000 
pounds of small cod taken in the season of that year. From all the data available, 
at least 4,000,000 pounds of codfish appear to have been taken on these grounds in the 
spring and summer of 1890, previous to the last of July. These fish are reported to 
be much in favor in the markets, since they are of even size and in good demand at 
restaurants and hotels, where they are prepared for food under the name of u scrod.” 
Among other references to the appearance of young cod along the coast, which are 
concededly those hatched by the Fish Commission, is the following: 
Mr. George A. Griffin, of Wakefield, Ehode Island, writing under the date of 
December 12, 1890, says : 
There are none of our fishermen that have made any business of cod fishing for 15 or 20 years past, 
so they were ill prepared to catch or cure when the fish struck on. But they managed to secure, as 
near as I can calculate without talcing a great deal of pains, some 6,000 to 7,500 pounds of cod. The 
fish struck on at the pier [Narragansett Pier] the 20th of October. Capt. Taylor’s boy and a friend 
went out in a small boat from South Pier and caught about 20 or 30 fish. The next day they caught 
about 100. This waked up the older fishermen and they caught from 100 to 300 fish per day to a boat 
according to the weather, etc. * * * They were all caught within a quarter of a mile off the 
pier shore and half a mile or so off Point Judith. * * * The fish would average, I think, about 6 
pounds, and were of a very dark color, with once in a while a large, coarse, light-colored fish, which 
resembled more the common old fish we used to catch here. 
The observations of Mr. Willard Nye, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, disclosed the 
occurrence of codfish in the shoal waters at the mouth of Buzzards Bay and to the west, 
ward in greater numbers than for many years. The fish were mostly caught in pound 
nets and trap nets as far west as Sakonnet Point, and numbers were also taken with 
hook and line in various localities. Mr. Nye states that cod fishing inside Buzzards Bay 
is something new, even to the oldest inhabitant, and he does not doubt that the fish 
secured are those artificially propagated by the U. S. Fish Commission. The fish are 
of fine quality, very active, and are of two sizes, weighing 4 and 6 pounds each, and 
are school cod and not the rock cod, specimens of which are caught every year. 
