The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1884-02-29
rl. Sword Fisli-.-An Ocean Puzzle.

In the mysteries of nature the sea has
a conspicuous share. and the study of
ocean life is full of fascination, full OF
curious discoveries, and not lacking in
facts which are entirely outside the
range of explanation. This, perhaps.
is to be expected, considering that the
ocean is the exact reverse of the land.
On land nearly all of life is upon the
surface. readily visible and always
open to study. On the contrary, near
ly all of ocean life is low and out OF
sight, and even those who spend their
lives upon its storm swept surface can
have but n guess work knowledge of
what is going OH below them.
| But all the study of the sea ways is
not mere speculation or useless gather
ing of scattered facts. 1t comes to
something In the study of the ways
of fish and the art of breeding fish from
the spawn science has furnished n
practical aid TO mankind WI ich is only
beginning now to be appreciated. We
are learning to repair damages of even
the most wastcful and ignorant de-
structiveness, which would otherwise
soon deprive us of some of our most de-
sired foods.
The first aim of the students is, of
course, to learn the habits of any par
| ticular fish. and some of these are very
peculiar. For example take the sword
fish. Ii has lately been made the sub
ject of very careful study, and a good
deal of positive fact has been learned
about it. As to its origin, the only
really young swordiish ever seen are
found in the Mediterranean. The only
large swordfish ever found spawning, or
containing eggs, are found in the Med
iterranean. There is evidently their
home and nursery. But every year,
about the first of July, the swordfish
appears on the American coast, being
first seen about twenty-five miles south
of Montauk point. He makes his way
in shore and stays along the coast until
fall. He lives upon menhaden, mack
eral, bluetish, and other similar fish,
but how lie learns in the Mediterranean
that he can find such food over here,
and how he learns the way here, and
what transatlantic route he takes, are
utterly unknown. He sticks by a wa
ter temperature of so degrees. When
the water is colder than that he goes
away, nor does he come until it rises to
that. And yet fishermen catch the
swordfish, by no means infrequently,
on their halibut travis, which are down
a hundred fathoms or more where the
temperature is not above 40 degrees.
Here is another puzzle, how a fish that
leaves when the water gets below so
degrees is caught in temperature be-
low 40 degrees. But there is another
curious fact TO be mentioned: the
swordiish appear on our coast about
the first of July and stay until fall.
Now that is exactly the spawning time
of the swordiish in the Mediterranean,
which is the only place where such fish
are known TO spawn. The whole in
crease of the breed must be made up
without the assistance of those that
come over here, or else the same indi-
vidual fish may not breed every year.
Perhaps, unlike Connecticut, they have
q constitution which requires only BIZ
ennial session for business, and those
that have the year off come over TO our
American watering places.
Old fishermen say the supply shows
no signs of increase or decrease. In
any still morning about eleven, or at
ternoon about four, the swOrdfish in
the season can surely be found.
living ut the surface of the ocean
with its back fin above the water line.
The fish move in what is called Il
school. but they keep apart and have
to be harpoonrd singiy. Such q meth
cd of capture prevents wholesale work
and probably the supply will always
continue, especially rs the demand Tor
the meat is not very great. though
some people think it superior To the
halibut, being iirmcr and not so iishy.
The swordtish has been caught weigh
inc rs much ~ 1YD pounds. but the av-
erage is 24O 10 :rD. The United States
Fish Commissioner report, which con
tains much interesting information
about this and other fish, has al esti-
mate that the annual catch along our
New England coast is about 1000 fish OF
about LOCO, 900 pounds altogether. At
wholesale they bring al first hands
about three cents pound.
They are fierce fighters and hungry
eaters and it is believed some of their
attacks on ships are made out of simple
ferocity-a natural anta%onism to ev-
erything. Many vessels have been
crippled and more than one sunk by
being pierced with their swords
Hartford CO,Yant