34 § 
AMERICAN FISHES. 
eighty per quintal ; in the same locality, however, Cod caught on trawl 
lines require only twenty to twenty-five per quintal, while on the coast of 
Labrador they are small, and it requires about one hundred to one hun¬ 
dred and ten to make a quintal. 
Writing in the summer of 1877, Capt. Atwood expressed the opinion that 
the average weight of the fish taken about Cape Cod was in the neighbor¬ 
hood of ten pounds; but he informed me that in the winter of 1877, in 
two days, thirty thousand pounds of Codfish were landed from the boats, 
and that there was not a fish among them small enough to be classed as a 
market Cod, a market Cod weighing from six to ten or twelve pounds. 
In conclusion, it may not be amiss to quote the remarks of Prof. 
Baird concerning the decrease of Codfish along our coast, and its probable 
causes: 
“ Of all the various fisheries formerly prosecuted directly off the coast of 
New England, north of Cape Cod, the depreciation in that of the Cod 
appears to be of the greatest economical importance. Formerly the waters 
abounded in this fish to such an extent that a large supply could be taken 
throughout almost the entire year along the banks, especially in the 
vicinity of the large rivers. At that time the tidal streams were almost 
choked up with the alewives, shad, and salmon that were struggling for 
entrance in the spring, and which filled the adjacent waters throughout a 
great part of the year. 
‘ ‘ As is well known, the erection of impassable dams across the streams, by 
preventing the ascent of the species just mentioned to their spawning 
grounds, produced a very great diminution, and almost the extermination 
of their numbers; so that whereas in former years a large trade could be 
carried on during the proper season, now nothing would be gained by the 
effort. 
“ Of late the attention of the legislatures of the New England States has 
been called to this fact, and to the importance of restoring their fisheries, 
and a great deal has been already accomplished toward that end. Unfor¬ 
tunately, however, the lumbering interest in Maine, and the manufactur¬ 
ing in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, are so powerful as to render it 
extremely difficult to carry out any measures which in any way interfere 
with their convenience or profits ; and notwithstanding the passage of 
laws requiring the construction of fishways through the dams, these have 
either been neglected altogether, or are of such a character as not to an¬ 
swer their purpose. The reform, therefore, however imperatively required, 
has been very slow in its progress, and many years will probably elapse 
before efficient measures will be taken to remedy the evil referred to. 
“ It would, therefore, appear that while the river fisheries have been 
