Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 January 1909 — CODFISHING INDUSTRY. [ARTICLE]

CODFISHING INDUSTRY.

Of all the many varieties of food fishes in the United’ States one of the most valuable, and, by long odds, the most prominent commercially is the cod. Outside of the oyster. fishery which is the most important branch of the fishing industry of our great and growing country, when the mat ters of persons engaged, vessels employed, capital invested, and value of catch are taken into consideration the taking of cod in the United States—and, indeed, for that matter in the neighboring Dominion of Canada—is far most extensile than any other fishery for fish proper. And yet but little is generally known of the codfish except that it forms one of the most, palatable dishes in the household economy. That millions of dollars are invested in this Indus try resulting in an assured income from its yearly catches of five and as high as ten millions of* dollars, and that the weight of the fish as landed from the vessels engaged in (he catch —fresh, split and salted—fcot up many millions of pounds are facts that are at once interesting and instructive. The cod fishery is prosecuted in all of the coastal states from Maine to New Jersey, being most important in Massachusetts and Maine. Gloucester and Boston are the principal fishing centers. On the Pacific coast there is a big fishery in Alaska, carried on by San Francisco vessels. Cods are taken with hand trawl lines, baited with fish, squid, etc., and fished from small boats on the vessels’ decks. The principal grounds in the Atlantic are the famous “banks” — Grand, Georges, Western, Quereau, etc. On the Pacific coast the Shumagin Islands are the chief grounds. Small quantities are taken in traps at various places along the New England shore. The status of the cod of the North Pacific ocean is somewhat uncertain. It has generally been considered identical with the Atlantic species, but its small air-bladder and other features may entitle it to recognition as a distinct species. Cod are widely distributed in the North Atlantic ocean. To the north they range far beyond the Arctic Circle, and to the south as far as Cape Hatteras, although they are not common • south of New Jersey. The cod of the North Pacific ocean is found from Bering Sea south to Oregon and Japan. The movements of cod are not well understood. They go 'in schools, but In much less dense bodies than do mackerel, herring, and menhaden, and when moving from one ground to another they are in more compact schools than when on the feeding grounds. The movements on and oft shore and from bank to bank are due to several causes, among which are the effects of water temperature, the presence or absence of food, and the spawning instinct. In the winter months there is a well-marked movement of large bodies of codfish to the shores of the New England and middle states, and important fisheries are there carried: on in regions from which cod are ab-< sent at other times. This movement; seems to be chiefly for the purpose of : finding shallow grounds for spawning That the cod sometimes makes very long journeys is shown by their capture on the New England coast with peculiar hooks in their bodies which have been identified as similar to the hooks employed by the French cod fishermen on the Grand Banks. Although sometimes found in shallow j water, cod are essentially deep-water fish, preferring water from 20 to 70 fathoms deep and being found even at a depth of 200 fathoms. Those caught for market are usually taken at depths of 20 to 40 fathoms. The cod takes its food on the bot tom, at the surface, or at intermediate points. It is an omnivorous and extremely voracious feeder, consuming all marine animals of suitable size. Favorite articles are M"’lve mollusks, crabs, lobsters, starfish and fish. Among the fish consumed in large quantities are caneiin, lant. herring, alewives, menhaden, mackerel and haddock, although many others are also eaten. The abundance and movements of such fish have an im-portant-relation to the presence and abundance of cod in a given region. The largest cod recorded from New. England waters weighed 211% pounds and was over 6 feet long; it was taken on a trawl off the northern Massachusetts coast in May, 1895. The , capture of a number, weighing from 100 to 175 pounds could be cited, but those exceeding 100 pounds in weight are by no means common, and even 75 pound cod are not numerous. The average weight of the large size cod caught In the shore waters of New England is about 35 pounds; on the Georges Bank, 25 pounds; on the Grand Banks and other eastern grounds, 20 pounds; the average weight of the smalLsize fish caught on all these grounds is about 12 pounds.