Year: 1872

From the Toronto Leader


tears are sometimes expressed that Canadn8
and Newfoundlands great staple, the cod tish-
cries, Will. IN time, become exhausted, and the
enormous fish colonies around the shores will,
By overhshing, become SO reduced in numbers
that the tolls Of the fisherman will cease to. be
remunerative. Already, it is asserted by some,
our fishing grounds are falling of in productive
ness, and while the number Of fishermen ar,
increasing, the cod aud seals are decreasing
We believe there is no foundation, in fact. for
such an opinion. The quantity Of fish taken
out OF the sea by the hands of men is so small,
IN proportion to the whole or to the numbers de-
stroyed by their natural enemies, that the ab-
BtTactlon could make little or no impression on
the immense shoals in the ocean. The fecundity
Of tish is enormous, and is Natures compensa-
tlon Tor the immense waste Of life through the
canniba1 propensities of the fish world
In the world Of waters it would seem as il
shoals Of one species Of fish had no other
object in life than to chase another with
view to eat them, but in proportion to The de-
struction thus carried on is the power Of repro
sixty or seventy millions of Goldfish arc taken
from the sea annually by the toi1ers of the sea
around the shores Of New Foundland. But what
is the quantity when We consider that the cod
yields three millions and half Of eggs each
season, and that even eight millions have
been found in the roe of a single cod! Other
fish, though not equalling the cod. are also
wonderfully reproductive. 4 herring six
or seven ounces IN weight is pro-
vided with about 81, 900 ovaria. After making
all reasonable allowances for the destruction Of
eggs and Of the young, it has been calculated
that in three years q single pair Of herrings
would produce Is, ,000, 900. Button said that if
pair Of herrings were left to breed and multi
ply undisturbed for period Of twenty years
they would yield fish bulk equal to the whole Of
the globe on which We live. The cod far su1pass
the herring in fecundity. Nothing can compare
with the prolific power Of fish in any other
species OF animals, except, perhaps, the white
ant, which produces eggs at the rate Of fifty per
minute, and goes on laying for period Of un-
known duration The common domestic bng,
against which popular prejudice is so strongly
pronounced, has great reproductive powers, as
it il said to become great grandmother in
twenty-four hours. It is nothing, however, to
the house-hy, which produces twenty millions of
eggs in q season. or the little uphides of the
garden, one Of which produces hundred thou
sand millions Of young.


In the case of one Of our cod that Yields three
millions and half OF eggs in q season, Of course
vast numbers never come to life at all, either
from the want Of the fructifying power or from
being devoured by enemies. Then Of the eggs
that ripen, it has been calculated that so per
cent Of the young fish perish before they are +
months old. We're it not for this destruction Of
life, fish would SO multiply that it would be i'm
possible for boat to move in the sea- Fish
prey extensively upon each other, indeed the
very element in which they move, is, in a sense,
great mass of living matter, and it doubtless
affords. by means of minute animals, wonder
fu1 source Of supply.