Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-05-03

the three varieties which the Govern
ment is investigating will be segre-
gated, tagged and thrown back into
the water. In all probability some of
the tagged fish may be caught the
next day by some fisherman but it
is equally likely that some may re-
main at liberty for years. Some very
likely will be caught within a few
miles of the place where they were
tagged and some, doubtless, a thou
sand miles away. These are precisely
the facts the Bureau desires to de-
termine.
1t is known that the great schools
Of fish migrate from time to time
between the coast line and the fish
ing banks and between the banks.
A bank is a submerger plateau. The
ocean in most places is Of great
depth, but in other places the bot
tom rises up in the form of a noun
tain or plateau to within a compare
lively short distance from the sur
face. The fish usually stay in the
waters over these banks excepting
when they are going from one to
another.
The Georges Bank and the Grand
Banks are the principal haunts of
the cod and TO these fishing grounds
the fleets from the New England
ports annually sail. They remain at
sea until they catch enough to fill
their holds. On some occasions, for
unaccountable reasons, the fish are
scare and time is lost, the ships
riding at anchor for days on end
and using up provisions. These ex-
pensive intervals, 1T Is hoped, will be
avoided as a result of the facts as
nartafna1 frn4o1 fh1 npNnrnpoant nv
perimentS.
A part of the study of fish doubt
less will include the ocean currents,
one OF the most fascinating OF scien-
tific subjects. Fish sleep just like
other creatures and drift with the
currents when in repose. Important
and interesting studies of ocean cur
rents have been made. One method
Of studying them is the launching of
bottles, tightly corked so that they
will float indefinitely. In 1919 q num-
Der of bottles were set afioat In the
Bay OF tundy. The United States
Weather Bureau co-operated in the
work of tracing them and compiling
the data obtained.
The bottles have been picked up
from time to time, the Weather
Bureau within the last few days
iA4N4AAS A0POA NSu OA AOdt INV OOIbA1b
of the 1919 lot. No. 1913 was found
on the Island OF Flores in the Azores
on August $500. AS the Bay of
Fundy is on the Canadian Coast this
means that this bottle nearly crossed
the Atlantic. No. $50 was picked up
CT the island of Papa Westray in
the Orkneys, January 81, 1921. No.
9S was picked up at DyffyrIh North
Wales on March 25, 1921 and No.
1873 was found 2 miles from land at
the Standardization, Soro, Westfin-
mark, in Norway on July 16, 1921.
The Weather Bureau has figured
that these bottles must have travel
led respectively, 1900 miles, 2,S0O
miles, $500 miles and $500 miles in
respective times of IL months, II
months, 10 months ana 23 months
A calculation shows hat the bottle.
travelled between 5 and 6 geographic
cal miles per day.
The tagging of fish is a new scienc,
but there is at least one very inter
esting case of a fish which was iden
tined and known to many people. Il
the time of the Emperor Justinial
: of Rome, a whale strayed into tn
: Mediterranean Sea. 1t was about 5
feet long-not a tremendous whal
= as whales go in the North Atlantic
= u n biggest fish ever seen in tn
= Mediterranean. 1t capsized many @
the small ships of that early tim
and was regarded as q sea monste
! Of unimaginabie terror. 1t became S
well known to mariners and, by re
port, to the people of the cities, tha
= 1t was given a name. Porphyrio,
was called and every time a shi
, set sail. the sailors prayed to th
pagan gods to lie kept safe from tn
3 lashiny tail of Porphyrio. The whal
/ lived fifty years in the Mediterranea
and finally became stranded on tn
sands at the mouth of the Sanger
River in Asia Minor, where it eitht
= was killed or died at low tide.
The Fisheries Bureau does not e,
pect to tag any whales but if ar
reader of the Haskin Letter finds
denizen Of the deep with a lit
metal tag on it, Uncle Sam will al
preciate it If he will send the tag,
few scales and the data about whel
and when the fish was caught to ii
: Bureau of Fisheries. Department
q Commerce, Washington.