Year: 1872




The St John q b Telegraph contains


the following


'' Fears are sometimes expressed that Cam
ada and Newfoundlands great staple. the


codfsheries, will. in time, become exhausted,
and that the enormous FISH colonies around


the shores viii, by overiishing. become so re
duced IN numbers that the tolls Of the fisher
men viii cease to be remuneratiye. Already.


It l. asserted by some, our fishing grounds
are falling off in prodGctiveness, and while


the number of fishermen is increasing. the
cod and seals aye 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 80 small. in
proportion to the whole. or TO the numbers
destroyed continually by their natural enc
mics, that the abstraction could make little
or no impression on the immense shoals in
the ocean. The fecunditv Of fish Is enor-
nous, and Is natures compensation for the
immense waste Of life through the cannihal
propensities Of the fish world. In the
world Of waters it would seem as if shoals
OF one species of fish had no other object in
life than to chase another with view u eat
them but in proportion 90 the destruction
thus carried on Is the power Of reproduction
with when they are endowed. Perhaps six
ty OF seventy millions Of Goldfish are taken
from the sea annually By the " Toier~ of the
Sea around the shores of Newfoundland


But what is this quantity when we consider
thar the cod Yields three millions and a half
of eggs each season, and that even eight mil
lions Of eggs have been found in the roe of a
single cod. Other fish, though not equaline
the cod, are also wonderfully reproductive
4 herring six or seven ounces in weight. is
provided with about 10000 oya After
making all reasonable allowances for the de,
strucuon of eggs and of the young. if has
been calculated that in three wears a single
pair Of herrings would produce one hundred
and forty-iour millions. Balloon said that
If a pair Of herring, were left to breed and
multiply uudisturbed for period of twenty
years they would Weld o fish bulk equal TO
the whole Of the globe ON which we live.
The cod -urIasS the herring In fecundit0
Nothing can compare with the prolific power
Of fish in any other species Of animals. ey-
cept, perhaps, the white ant, " hich produces
eggs AT the rate Of fifty per minute, and goes
on LAYING for a period of unknown duration.
The common domestic bug, against which
popular prejudice is 50 strongly pronounced.
has great reproductive powers, as It Is said 70
become great-grand-m0ther in twenty-iour
hours II is nothing, however, to the house
hy. which produce twenty millions Of eggs
in a season. or the light aphides Of the gar
den. one of which producesa hundred thous-
and millions of Young. In the case of one
of oar cod that Yields three millions and
half of eggs in q season. of course vast NUM-
ber~ never come To life AT all, either from
want of the fructifying power or from being
deyourel hv enemies Then Of the eggs
that ripen. il has been calculated that ninety
per cent Of the young fish perish before they
are six month, old Were it not for this
destruction Of life. fish wouli -o multiply
that it would be impossible for n boat %
move in the sea- Fish prey extensively on
each other. indeed the very element in which
they move. Is. in sense, great mass Of
living matter, and it doubtless affords. by
means of minute animals a wonderful source
of supply.


90 1t Is curious 90 note among the compen-
sation= established by the bountiful Creator
how these cold. storm-tossed seas have been
bountifully stocked with fshy treasures
which can never be exhausted, and which are
more valuable hy far than the gold and silver
Of Mexico and Peru and the pearls of Col
c3nda. For hundreds Of miles around the
shores Of Newfoundland the bottom Of the
sea is vast series Of submarine hills and
valleys. These dark recesses are the homes
Of vast shoals Of the beautiful little caplin
of the lance, silyery, eel-like creature oI
vast armies Of herring which make the ea
boil and glitter in their rapid paths and OF
souids, a species of cuttle-fsh, whose hosts
are countless. Supreme over all, lord ot
these vast domains, dwells the all-devOUung
cod. an animal as various in his choice OF
food As omnivorous man. Hesubsists on the
smaller fry by which these vast downs are
inhabited. and fourishes here on the uniail-
ing banquet spread all around, as nowhere
else. No Imagination could conceive the I'M
mense fish population of these submarine
hills and wales. drawing their subsistence
from each other. carrying on silent bnt
ceaseless warfare. and performing their peri
odical miprations from the deeper and colder
to the shallower and warmer water Of the
coasts. In order 10 repeat the story If their
birth Adyices from Newfoundland INFORM
us that lust now the caplin migration Is in
full force From the deep ocean 5ohtude7
they come. in masses which have the effect
Of currents upon the bosom Of the tranquil
deep. filing every bar and creek around the
thousand miles Of coast. They furnish the
best bait for the fishermen. Along with
them. and feasting on them, come vast bat
talions of Goldfish, and then the sea harvest
begins in earnest The fisherman Is out on
his fishing ground from morn till dewy
eve Baited with caplin he throws ms
hook and line or bultow into the water. and
returns at nightfall loaded with the -ilye-
ry treasures Of the deep. These he must
dispose of. after the tolls of the day, before
he retires TO rest. The cod must be decapi-
lated. split and salted before the hour Of re-
firing. otherwise in the morning the fish
wonld ne completely spoiled. In eyiscera-
ting. shifting, salting and drying the hsh
the women are largely employed. All this
has been going on year after year, for centu-
ries. without making any sensible impression
on the shoals of cod The value of these
patches Of fishing grounds on which the sea
toilers pursue their calling. compared win
the same extent of land. may be imagined
The British fishery commissioners remark IN
their report. that once a year an acre ol
good land carefully titled produces a ton ol
corn or two or three hundred weight oi meat
or cheese but that without any culture,
the same area at the bottom of the sea yields
greater weight Of food to the fisherman
each week Of the year. Our Newfoundland
letter informs Us that the cod have not Yet
begun to bite fairly, but We hope for better


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