The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-01-27
copFlsHINe INDUSTRY.


most prominent commercially is the
cod Outside of the oyster fishery
which is the most important branch i
OF the fishing industry OF our great |
and growing country, when tie mat
ters OF persons engaged, vessels em- /
ployed, capital invested, and value
of catch are taken into considera-
tion the taking OF cod in the United |
States-and, indeed. for that matter |
in the neighboring Dominion N Can |
ada-is far most extensive Than any
other fishery for fish proper And yct
but little is generally known OF the
Goldfish except that IL 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 Ave and as
| high as ten millions OF dollars, and
] that the weight of the fish as landed
from the vessels engaged In The catch
fresh split and salted-foot up
many millions of pounds are facts
that are at once interesting and in
structiye.
The cod fishery is prosecuted in all
Of the coastal states from Maine to
New Jersey, being most important in
Massachusetts and Maine. Glouces--
ter and Boston are the principal fish.
ing centers. On the Pacific coast
there Is q big fishery in Alaska, cal-
ried on by San Francisco vessels. Gods
are taken with hand trawl lines, bait
ed with fish. squid. etc, and hshed
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 Shuma-
gin Islands are the chief grounds.
Small quantities are taken in traps
at various places along the New Eng
land shore.
The status of the cod OF the North
Pacific ocean is somewhat uncertain.
1t has generally been considered iden-
tical with the Atlantic species. but
It's small air-bladder and other fea-
lures may entitle ii to recognition as
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, al
though 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.
ST The movements of cod are not well
D understood. They go in schools, but
I in much less dense bodies than do
r mackerel, herring, and menhaden,
! and when moving from one ground 10
another they are in more compact
= schools than when on the feeding
grounds. The movements on and on
! shore and from bank TO bank are due
d to several causes, among which are
10 the effects OF water temperature, the
presence or absence of food, and the
n spawning instinct.
In the winter months there Is q
: well-marked movement Of large bod
les OF Goldfish to the shores OF the
New England and middle states and
important fisheries are there carried
on In regions from which cod are abb
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 cap
ture ON the New England coast WIN
peruliar hooks in their bodies which
have been identified as similar to the
hooks employed by the French COD
fishermen on the Grand Banks AL
though sometimes found In shallow
water. cod are essentially deep-wateS
ash preferring water from 20 TO ~
fatho,ns deep and being found even
at n depth OF 200 fathoms. Those
caught for market are usually taken
al depths OF 20 to 40 fathoms'
The cod takes its food on the DOT
tom at the surface, or at intermedi'
ate points. II is an omnNVorous aho
extremely yoracious feeder. consun'
inc all marine animals OF suitable
size. Fayorlte articles are biNalVt
molmsks, crabs, lobsters' s'arhsh anc
fish. Among the hsu C'h7"'"'u 80
large quantities are capelin, liant, her,
ring. alewives, menhaden, mackere
and haddock, although many Others
are also eaten. The abundance anC
movements OF such FISH have an I'M
portant relation to the presence silc
abundance of cod in a given regdh
The largest cod recorded from New
England waters weighed 2llh poHnd'
and was over G feet long it was tax
on on trawl off the northern Mas
sachusefts coast in May, 1895. TIT
capture of number, Weighing from
100 TO t75 pounds could be cited. bu'
those exceeding 100 pounds In weigh
are by no means common, and ever
75 mound cod are not numerous TINT
average weight of the large size coo
caught in the shore waters of New
England Is about 80 pounds; on I'M
Georges Bank, 25 pounds; on th'
Grand Banks and other eastern
grounds, 20 pounds; the average
naI. ,..k,