Year: 1872

the sulp,y In Cauadtan and New
AlNP : fOuodiand Waters.


The St John IN. b. Telegraph con.
tains the followipg:Tsfn


"Fears are sometimes expressed that
Canadas and New Foundand's great
sraple-tbe cod 6sberies--will in time,
become exhausted, and that the enor-
NOUS fish colonies around the shores
will, by oyer6shing, become so reduced
in numbers that the toi' Of the fishermen
will cease TO be remunerative Already,
il is asserted by some, our fishing grounds
are falling off in productiveness; and
while the number of fishermen is increas-
ing, the cod and seals are decreasing
We believe there is no foundation in fact
for such an opihion. The quantity OF
fsh taken out of the sea by the hands Of
men is so small, in proportion to the
whole OF to the numbers destroyed con
tinually by their natural enemies, that
the abstraction could make little or no
impression on the immense shoals in the
ocean The fecundity of fish is enor
nous, and is Natures compensation for
the immense waste of life through the
'cannibal propensities Of the fish world,
In the worldTof waters it would seem as
if fshoals Of one species Of fish had no
other object in life than to chase
another with o view to eat them
hut in proportion to the destrnc-
ton thus carried on is the power of re-
production with which they are endowed,
Perhaps sixty or seventy millions
of Goldfish are taken from the sea annu-
ally by the Toilers ofthe Sea around
the shores Of Newfoundland. But what
is this quantity when we consider that
the cod yields three millions and q halt
eggs each season, and that even eight
millions of eggs have been found in the
roe Of a single cod2 Other fish, though
not equaling the cod, are also wonder
fully reproductive. A herring six or
seven ounces in weight is provided with
about 80 900 ova. After making all
reasonable allowances for the destruction
of eggs and of the young, il has been
calculated that in three years single
pair Of herrings would produce one hun
dred and forty four millions. A'Bufon
said that if pair of herrings were left
to breed and multiply undlsturbed for q
period Of twenty years they would yield
u fish bulk equal to the whole OF the
globe on which We live. The cod far
surpass the herring in iecundity Moth.
ing can compare with the prolific power
of iish in any other species Of animals,
except, perhaps, the white ant, which
eggs at the rate of fifty per minute, and
goes on laying for a period of un-
inown duration. The common domes
tic bug, against which popular prejudice
is so strongly pronounced, has great re-
productive powers, as it is said to be-
cone a great grandmother in twenty
four hours. 1t is nothing, however, to
the house fly, which produces twenty
millions Of eggs In a season, or the little
aphides OF the garden, one Of which
produces q hundred thousand millions
Of young. In the case of one of our
cod that yields three millions and half
of eggs in season, of course vast mum.
bers never come TO life at all, either
from want of the fructifying power or
from being devoured by enemies. Then
of the eggs that ripen, it has been calcu-
lated that ninety per cent Of the young
6sh perish before they are SIX months
old. Were it not for this destruction of
life the fish would go multiply that it
would be impossible for boat to move
at sea. Fish prey extensively on each
other. indeed, the very element in which
they move, is, 10 sense, q great mass
of living matter, and it doubtless affords,
nv means OF minute animals, wonder
iul source OF supply.