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Bulletin of the Biological Board of Canada No. 2

Histories of New Food Fishes

Il. The LUMPFISH

By
PHILIP COX, Ph.D.

Professor in the University of New Brunswick

PRICE - - 15 cents

MARCH, 1920

OTTAWA
THOMAS MULVEY
PRINTER TO THE KING'S MOST EXCE
1920.

LLENT MAJESTY

Peon disprect

Pip. i Adult Luamp-tish CCyciopterus limnpusy

200)

BULLETIN of the BIOLOGICAL BOARD of CANADA No. 2.

Histories of New Food Fishes

11 THE LUMPFISH

BY

PHILIP COX, Ph.D.

Professor in the University cf New Brunswick

WITH 15 F'GURES

OTTAWA

THOMAS MULVEY
PRINTER TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY
1920

200--1

THE BIOLOGICAL BOARD OF CANADA.

Professor E, FE, Prince, Commissioner of Fisheries, Chairman.

rofessor A. P, Kxicut, Department of Naval Service.
Professor L. W. Buiney, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, N.B
Professor AL IE R. Br LLER, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg.

Rev. Canon V. A. Hearp, Laval University,
tion, Quebee, P.Q.

Pre ifes sor WwW, Jo

Museum of Publie Instrue-

MacCiesient, Queens’ University, Kingston, Ont.
Professor J. P, MeMt ric, University of Turonto, Toronto.

Dr. A. H, MacKay, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S,

Professor R. F, Rerray, McGill University, Montreal.

aes emaneneteen atnenaenaennss.assnnenessanatnenntinsn:

—————-~—omncomucnsurscesenseereentenegnasesusissesseesns+ senenuatseussinennssesnaeunssseove~casustunspenestinshensesanevenvareweeeesconeoteeee

|
i

ITS NAMES IN OTHER LANUS.

HE fish, shown in the frontispiece (fig. 1), js rarely seen in the
markets of Canada or of the United States, and few people,
except tho.> living on the seashore or visiting there occasionally,

will be able to recognize it, Though many of the graceful lines and

features of most fishes ar anting, yet is it a striking a: attractive
object which never fails ite the curiosity of the observer,
In its wide range i: 2 > own under a variety of names. The short,

thick, and blunt body uas earned for it the title “ Lumpfish,” the
common name in English-speaking countries, “ Lumpsucker” is often
heard also, in allusion to its habit of clinging to stones or other objects
by means of the sucker, a round shallow depression oa the under
side of the chest, formed by a singular modifieation of the ventral fins.
So firmly can it attach itself to any object that a pail of water, into
which one is put and to the bottom of which it has fixe the sucker,
may be lifted by seizing the fish.

The crest-lixe kump recalls the cock’s comb and is responsible for
some of the names heard in Scotland and the north of England—Paddle-
cock and Paidle-cock; the male is called the Cock-Paidle or Red Paidle,
and the female the Hen-Pxidle or Blue Paidle. It is there also known
as the Sea Owl.

Poule-de-mer (Sea Hen) is in use among the Acadians, and
the © ench of Quebee call it “ Poule d’eau ” (Water Hen), which in the
mo...od form “Henfish” is the common name along the coasts of
Cha: bay and Miramichi Day. In France it is called “ Lomp,” and
the Dutch, and, to a certain extent also the En vlish, eall it briefly the
“Lump.” In Germany it is known in the fish trade as the “Sea-hare,”
and one of the Danish names is Hafpadde or Sea-toad.

As this fish has many excelleat qualities as a food-fish and is
certain to be utilized on a large scale in Canada in the near future, it
seems desirable to have it called by one name only, and none is more
simple and less open to objection than lumpfish.

DESCRIPTION.

The lumpfish, like its near relatives the sculpins, has a tadpole-
shaped body, which, instead of with scales, is covered with hard, wart-
like tubercles of various sizes. The large ones are disposed in sever

3

200—2

rows, one along the middle line of the back, where it appears in fig. 2
surmounting the hump; two along each eide, and one on each edge of
the flattened ventral surface. In addition the whole body, head, and
fins are thickly covered with fine tubercles, so that the fish feels very

Fig. 2.
Figs. 1 and 2. Adult Lump-fish. (Cyclopterus lumpus)

rough to the touch. Behind the hump can be seen a dorsal fin of the
ordinary shape, but when the tish was young (fig. 7) another fin was to
be seen where the hump is now; this fin, however, becoming covered by
the rising hump and at last not being seen at all. The hump results
not from ‘the upward growth of the flesh, but is due to an enormous
thickening of the skin, which is mostly made of soft cartilage almost
gelatinous im consistency. The head is short and very blunt, and the
pectoral and tail fins are large, with wide bases.

The skeleton is not made of true bone but of hardened or calcified
cartilage, and all its parts as well as the skull can be easily cut. The
joints of the backbone are not all of the same length, long and short
ones being mixed in the series. The teeth are numerous but weak, and
are confined to the jaws. The shape and structure are those of a fish
of sluggish habits, which does not range far, and which feeds on small
and weak animals. It passes the greater part of the year on or near
rocky bottoms, or concealed among floating masses of seaweed, where
its favourite food likely occurs in abundance. It reaches a length of
two feet and a weight of from sixteen to twenty pounds, but the great
majority average much less.

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

It is found in the shore waters of North America from Greenland
to New Jersey, and occurs also in Hudson bay. The most northern
record is Isle Disko, lat. 70° N., and its most southern, lat. 37° N. On
4

~<a OnORAOESE

_- aces NORARRE SESH

the eastern side of the Atlantic it seldom occurs below 45° N. L., but
extends its range north to the White sea and Spitzbergen, and across

ss. Ges

North Sea, Greenland, ete.

2
z
a
w
Y

(indicated by dotted zone

GREENLAND

;
:

Chart showing distribution of Lump-fish in North Atlantic,

Bo
ra)
<
Zz
<I
1S)

Fig. 3.

SP.
to Iceland, as is shown in fig. 8. As the lumpfish is a lover of cold
water, its greater southward range on the American side is due to the

5

influence of arctic currents, setting down along our coast and lowering
the temperature of the shore waters.

Does the lumpfish live at great depths for any portion of the year?
This can be answered only by saying that all the facts and records of
occurrence point the other way, and seem to make it highly probable
that it never wanders far from the coast nor into very deep water. The
Challenger Expedition did not find it beyond the 100-fathom limit, but
on the other hand it occurs off the coast of Norway in from 150 to 200
fathoms, where the coast is bold and the water deepens rapidly. It
has often been met with some miles off the Atlantic coast of Nova
Scotia and in the mouth of the Bay of Fundy, but on such occasions
it was living among floating masses of seaweed which had drifted from
the shore. In such situations it probably never descends to the bottom.
The Biological Station party, working at and off Cheticamp on the gulf
shore of northern Cape Breton, in the summer ef 1917, found no
lumpfish on any of the cod grounds, where the water rances in depth
from twenty to less than fifty fathoms. The stomachs of hundreds of
cod were examined, but no lumpfish remains were seen, which seems
to show that they do not go so far seaward, for the cod is a voracious
fish, feeding greedily on a great variety of animals, and were lumpfish
present they would most likely be an item in its bill of fare. It is just
possible that they penetrate the deeper and more offshore Waters as
winter advances, and may even in some places along our coasts reach a
depth as great as that recorded at Norway, yet most of the facts so far
noticed would seem to confirm the general belief that the lumpfish is
a denizen of shore and offshore waters, seldom wandering far seaward
or descending to any great depth.

DISTRIBUTION IN CANADIAN WATERS.

The lumpfish is quite abundant in the lower part of the Bay of
Fundy in spring, summer and autumn; but seems to disappear when
winter begins, at least no adult fish have been taken by the staff of the
Marine Biological Station of St. Andrews during the extensive winter
operations of the last two or three years. Two young fish, barely two
inches long, were captured at Grand Manan in December, 1917—a
solitary record bringing vividly before us the general fact that the fish
are not then in their usual summer haunts. As a summer resort the
Bay of Fundy seems an attractive place, well conditioned to the require-
ments and habits of the lumpfish. The temperature is low, the shores
rocky and everywhere overgrown with seaweeds, which are covered
and laid bare in turn by the great tides for which the bay is
famous, and in addition the salinity of the water is fairly high. Here
it finds ready concealment from enemies, numerous sheltered nooks and

6

i
4
g
4
/

nt tt RRNA SNA eee

corners for spawning purposes, and an abundance of food, for these
submarine meadows teem with invertebrate iife of many kinds, It is
also very common around the islands in Passamaquoddy bay and in the

QUEBEC

Newfoundland,

the Canadian,

along

»-fish
ew by the cross-hatched zone)

Chart showing the distribution of the Lur
and adjacent United States shores (indic

4.

Fig.

channels and passages between them, but does not seem to wander far
up the Bay of Fundy, being exceedingly rare in St. John harbour,

200—3

a

although less so on the other or Nova Scotian side. The lower salinity
of the upper part of the bay, due to the large volume of fresh water
entering it, may be the cause of its exclusion from that area.

There are numerous records for the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia
from the mouth of the Bay of Fundy to Seatar} island at the eastern
end of Cape Breton. Wherever salmon nets or haddock traps are used
in those waters, lumpfish are captured, sometimes in great numbers,
is they are approaching the shore to spawn in May and June. Many
are cought in the vicinity of Halifax harbour, weighing five pounds or
more apiece, and were ferme rly used for food, but not to any extent
of late years, Many American scientific men, too, have colleeted it in
the shore and offshore waters of the province and regarded it as nite
abundant. Indeed we have every reason for believing that a great
luinpfish fishery could be carried on there, and the loeal and other
markets suppiued with a food-tish, which is consumed in enormous

quantities by Europeans and regarded as one of the most nourshing
and delicious of food-tishes,

Between Seatari island and Cape North it is very abundant, and
reaches a large size, as fishermen report examples over two feet long
and weighing from twelve to sixteen pounds. As soon as the salmon
nets and haddock traps are put out, lumpftish are swarming in the shore
waters, and from 200 to 400 are sometimes found in a single net. They
are all mature (either spawning or about to spawn), are of a good size,
as these nets retain only the large ones, and in prime condition, esp. sally
the males, which are said to have firmer flesh than the females, As the
Canadian public knows nothing of it, and the fish is, Yor this reason,
seldom seen on the market, no use is made of them. They are regarded
by the fishermen as a nuisance to be dumped out, or earried to the
shore and used as a fertilizer, At Neil harbour, White Point and other
stations at Aepy bay, fishermen report them very plentiful in the spring.

It is also pretty well distributed in the gulf of St. Lawrence, except
in the extreme southern part, where it is rare, due doubtless to the
shallow, warm, and less saline character of the water, for this fish is a
lover of cool water of average salinity, All along the culf shore of Cape
Breton from cape North to Muleraye the lumpfish is well known and is
called by its Acadian name Poule-de-Mer, by which it is also known in
the Magdalens, where it occurs. It seems exceptionally abundant. at
Cheticamp, Margaree and Port Ifood, which will beeome important
centres of trade in this commodity, when our people begin to realize the
worth of the lumpfish as a cheap article of food, and a demand for it
arises,

It is also widely distributed in the northern part of the gulf,
including Chaleur bay and the lower St. Lawrence as far up as Trois
Pistoles. Great numbers are taken every spring at Shippegan island
and on beth sides of Chaleur bay as far up as Campbellton, where it is

8

becoming a favourite food-fish. It is reported trom Bras d’Or, on the
coast of Labrador, und the writer eXianiaed a specimen from ILudson
bay.

It is thus seen that the lumpftish is very widely distributed and
occupies an enormous range. Exceptional local conditions may exclude
it from a limited coast area here and there, but throughout the vast
region it frequents there are many stations where it is remarkably
abundant, and whenee unlimited supplies could be obtained for market
consumption, were Canadian fish-eaters led to ibandon false prejudices
and accept on its merits this rich and tinely-flavoured fish,

WHERE IT LIVES AT DIFFERENT TIMES OF THE YEAR.

It is always found about the shore in the spring and first part of
the summer when spawning takes place, but whether it migrates thither
from deep offshore waters or not, is not, as was said, detinitely known.
Whenever any shore fishery begins, as for instance the salmon or
haddock fishery, the lumptish is already preseat in considerable numbers
and has probably come in some time previously, for spawning is well
under way. The reproductive season lasts two months or more on our
couste, and fresh arrivals are of daily occurrence during that time, so
that a profitable fishing season would cover ordinarily two months at
least. This would probably be the limit in the gulf, where ice conditions
delay the opening of the fish: 1g season till the first of May or even later,
and most of the lumptish have moved offshore and disappeared by the
middle of July, as our observations in the gulf showed. On the Atlantie
aud Bay of Fundy coasts fishing would begin earlier,

The movements and whereabouts of the lumpfish after spawning js
over are not well known, and seem to depend much on local conditions.
In the Bay of Fundy it remains all summer and well into autumn, not
apparently living the life of a bott m fish, whieh it is generally believed
to be, but as a pelagic form, drifting about among the masses of sea-
weed and other débris, which are so common a feature of those waters,
All stages are represented, from the tiny larvie of the season just freed
from the egg and not more than one-quarter of an inch long, to large
individuals a foot or more in length. The situation is an ideal one, for
it combines shelter, an al indance of food, and congenial temperature
conditions. Wherever th fouting miusses occur, it has been observed
that the lumpfish occupy u, Whether in the Bay of Fundy, alone the
New England coast, or in we Greenland seas. It will likely be found
living under similar conditions along some portions of the Atlantie
coast of Nova Scotia. The generally shallow waters of the gulf, absence
of bold, rocky shores and of high tides and strong currents are not
conducive to the formation of such surface accumulations, and no
lumpfish, larger than the fry of the first or second year, are met with

9

?200—31

on or near the surface. During the summer, the Cheticamp- Magdalen
biological expedition of 1917 got but one specimen at the surface which
was larger than the larve of the season. It was one and one-third
inches long, and was found adhering to the buoy of a lobster trap at
Cheticamp island. Fishermen occasionally meet with them in such
situations. Where were the larger lumpfish? All the large spawning
fish, so common during the first part of the summer, had disappeared
by the middle ef July and were not seen again. They are not found on
the cod banks, as we have seen, and it is very unlikely that fish of their
structure and with special provisions for living at the bottom or among
floating débris, will resort to inter iediate depths. It is strange, too,
that none between one and one-third and eleven inches in length were
obtained, and fishermen remark that such intermediate sizes are seldom
seen. Investigations made in Scotland render it highly probable that
maturity is reached when the fish are about ten inches long, but a
specimen from the Bay of Fundy, examined by us, was nearly mature
at half that length. It seems likely that in the gulf the lumpfish remain
permanentiy on certain offshore grounds until ready to spawn, and
then, and then only, resort to the shore waters. Researches carried
on in the Baltic would tend to show that large and small fish
do not consort to any extent, and the same may be true in our gulf
waters, but of this we know little or nothing. For several centuries
this fish has been observed and studied more or less, yet we are still
ignorant of much of its life-history, especially of certain habits and
movements, a knowledge of which would be of much value to fisvermen.
Most animals have their special haunts and feeding grounds which
afford suitable conditions for living and reproducing their kinds, and
the lumpfish is probably no exception to the rule. In every large body
of water there are certain areas of rough bottom, overgrown with sea
taoss and weeds, where the small animals on which it feeds are abundant,
and where it finds easy concealment from enemies and a medium
suitable in pressure, salinity and temperature. We found many such
areas in the gulf, but did not succeed in taking lumpfish of any size
other than of the tiny fry of tle season, but our failure may have been
due, not to their absence, but to the small size of our tow nets and
dredges. vhich seldom take large ‘and alert fishes.

It is only when stimulated by the desire t. ueposit its eggs, that
the lumpfish forsakes its congenial haunts and visits the shore, returning
when spawning and other parental duties are over.

FOOD.

The genera} absence of food from the stomachs of the great
Majority of lumpfish examined has often been noticed, and all sorts of
éplanations offered. It must be borne in mind that nearly all these

10

fish were taken on the spawning grounds or in their vieinity, and
experience shows that few, if any, fish feed under similar conditions,
It is a period of excitement when the instinets, impulses, and energies
are at tension and directed to another object. The salmon, on a similar
errand, may remain two or three months in a river, and seldom or
never take any food during that time, at least the stomach is always
found empty. Luimpfish captured at other times are shown to be
voracious feeders,

The structure of the mouth and its weak teeth show that it must
feed on small and weak creatures, and jelly-fish, worms, and different
kinds of small crustaceans seem to make up the bulk of its food. The
stomachs of those we obtained at Cheticamp were entirely empty or
contained water, or a small quantity of milky fluid, whieh latter was
the digested product of food, for under microscopic examination it
showed small fragments of crustaceans. In the stomach of one from
Passamaquodds bay taken on September 4, several invertebrates were
seen, among them a small jelly-fish and some amphipods. Another
taken at the same place, September 7, was gorged with a delicate little
erustacean, belonging to the genus Caprella, whieh is generally very
abundant among sea moss and other bottom growths. The lumpfish is
said to prey also upon small mollusks, fry of the herring and sand-cel,
shrimp and marine annelids or worms. It has been caught on fish
trawls at Teeland, and by line men fishing for pollack at Canso, N.S.
This would seem to mean that its food does not alwaye consist of small
organisms, but at times of bulky ones.

THE SEASON AND MANNER OF SPAWNING,

Some observers report that the lumpfish spawn on the New England
coast in March or April; others, and for the same locality, in May and
June.. While the season may differ a little from year to year, it is
undoubtedly a long one, and likely lasts from April till June. In the
North sea, and in the Cattegat and Baltie it begins in January and
lasts till June. o exe t dates are available as to the opening of the
season in the Be sf Fundy, the gulf, or on the Atlantic coast of Nova
Scotia, but whenever the weather conditions are suitable for salmon
and haddock tishing to begin in the gulf, the lumpfish are inshore, and
spawning is under way. Thie is from the 20th of May to the 1st of June
The spawning was over at Cheticamp, Cape Breton, when we began our
investigations there on June 12, and all female fish had left the shore
waters, as only large spent males were collected subsequently. The
latter always remain to guard the egg masses until hatching is eom-
pleted. On June 27 we secured our first larval lumpfish which were six
millimetres or one-quarter of an inch jin length, and the eggs from
which they came must have been deposited two months previously, for

11

it has been clearly shown that in the first of the season from fifty to
seventy days are required to hatch out the young. That would make
the beginning of the season as early as the middle of April, and it
probably was earlier, for these larvae were larger than others subse-
quently taken and so must have been some days old when captured. We
are therefore safe in concluding that in the gulf at least the spawning
begins in April and ends in June, but what the period is in the Bay
of Fundy or along the coast of Nova Scotia eanne: be fixed, for data
are wanting,

The sexes are easily distinguished at this time. for the male is
richly coloured, being pink or red, especially on the under surface, the
lower part of the sides, and on the disk and chin. The pectoral and
caudal fins are often beautifully streaked with searlet. The females
vary from olive-green to blue black, paler on the lower surface, and with
greenish pectorils, After spawning the brightness of the nuptial hueg
is gradually lose by both, and the males assume in time the dull colour-
ation of the female,

It is also said that the male fish are smaller than the females. Of
seventy taken ina salmon net in Scotland, forty were females with an
average length of 40 em. (16 inches) and weight of 6 pounds 6 ounces:
thirty were males, average length 28 em. (11 inches) and weight,
1 pound 14 ounces. We examined seven specimens, all males, at
Cheticamp, July 7, which had been taken from a salmon net, and found
the average length was 32-4 em. (18 inches), and average weight
2 pounds 11 ounces. Only one female, length 33 em. (13 inches), was
seen during the summer. Fishermen say they often take females
weighing 12 pounds or more.

The favourite spawning grounds are rocky shores overgrown with
tangle and other seaweeds where the eggs are deposited in masses at
points below low tide. It was formerly thought that nests were made
after the manner of the sticklebacks or by seooping out depressions in
the sand, but a closer and more careful study of the operation goes to
disprove this idea. The egg clusters are from 5 to 7 inehes in diameter
and the eggs adhere not only to the object on which they are laid, but
to one another by means of sticky flaps or facets, and in such a way that
the ball takes on the character of a sponge and is easily penetrated by
the water (Seo fig. 5). As a fish’s eggs will not hatch unless water
containing oxygen js kept flowing pretty regularly over and among
them, the spongelike navure of the mass is a great aid in this direction,
and, if the tide should fall low enough to expose them to the danger of
drying, enough water is retained to keep them moist till covered by the
next tide. The hatching of the largest number of eggs is made possible
also by the habit of laying the eggs in several small clusters which are
more easily penetrated by, and kept supplied with new water rich in

TZ

depos'ted

Ip-fish exes

Lu

Mass of

on

en mare

oxygen. The number of eggs produced by one fish will depend on its
size, and is found to vary from 80,000 to 400,000, the weight of the ove
sometimes being fully one-third of that of the whole fish.

When oviposition ia over, the female deserte the spawning grounds,
and retires offshore, for seldom is one taken !n salmon neta in the gulf
after that, but the male remains and guards the egg masses through a
very long period of incubation, driving away any enemy that
approaches, and pressiag the clusters with his snout, which helns the
water to pass out and in through the many little pores and channels,
which must aid the hatching process considerably. Hfe also fans the
eggs with ‘the large pectoral tins and forces water from his mouth
through the mass; yet in apite of all these devices and his constant
attention, complete aeration of the ova is not effected. Much of the
spawn does not hatch, and storms tear the clusters from the rocks or se1
weed, and cast them out upon the beach where they perish. Fishes,
crabs, and birds must destroy much of it, and some of the eggs are not
fertilized during oviposition. We ex ed a mass found on the twenty
ninth day of June cast upon the beach av Cheticamp, and found that
many had escaped fertilization and were quite clear, and that others
contained dead embryos, while the outside of the mass was composed of
empty capsules from which the young had oseaped.

Some old writers were fond of picturing tle male watching over
the young for a time, and carrying about many thousands of his tiny
progeny clinging to his body by means of the suckers, It was a
pleasing conceit, but late observers have never met with the perip itetie
nursery.

While on duty guarding the eggs, he is said to be very bold and
fearless, dashing out and attacking anything coming near, even the
formidable wolf-fish. Fabricius, generally regarded as a_ reliable
authority, writing in 1780, declares he had seen a wolf-fish aetually
worried to death by one; and other instances of his great courage are
on record. He has been seen to pick up a crab that had crept near the
ages, curry it off to a safe distance and drop it. As the spawn is usually
placed among red, brown or yellow rock weed, the parei’ fish is not
easily seen, and his sudden and unexpected dash is enough to frighten
enemies away.

By the time his parental duties are ended and he begins to move
into deep water, the brilliant hues have faded, and the back and sides
soon take on a dull olive or blue colour.

THE EGGS AND THE YOUNG.

The eggs are pale red or sometimes quite pinkish, and are nov all
of the same size, but vary from one-eighth to one-tenth of an inch in
diameter. Looking at them through .a microscope one sees several little
oil globules in each, which gradually run into one as the hatching

13

proceeds, and the droplet later becomes inclosed within the body of the
tiny embryo, where it can be seen as a golden spot for some days after
the larva has escaped from the egg membrane.

The length of time for hatching depends on the temperature and,
to a certain extent, also, on the kind of circulation of water maintained ;
for, unless the eggs are well exposed to water containing plenty of
oxygen and renewed at intervals, many will never hatch, as we have
already seen. Experiments have been made in hatching them artificially
in tanks, but many eggs go “bad,” due doubtless to an insufficiency of
oxygen,

In the North sea a period of about sixty days is needed at the
beginning of the season, when the water is cold; later on less time is
required, and towards the close of the season it is said the eggs will
hatch in fourteen days. It is not known what time is needed in
Canadian waters, but it is probably about the same. What the larva is
like when it eseapes from the egg can be seen from fig. 6. The smailest

6a

Stages of young Lump-fish.

6, Specimen. 6-5 mm, long, June 29, 1917

6a. Specimen. 8 mm, long, July 13, 1917.
we collected was 5-5 mm, long, barely one-fifth of an inch, and dead
embryos, which we took from eggs found on the beach, were about the
same length. American writers give the length on the New England
coast as less, namely from 4 to 5 mm. In the North sea they are
larger, running from 6 to 7 mm. or even more, It js likely that the size
at birth depends a good deal upon the size of the eggz and upon the
length of time in hatching. The period may be shorier in the waters
to the south of us than in ours, while ours is likely briefer than that
in the North sea.

Looking at fig. 6, it is seen that the young lumpfish, like others at
that age, has a continuous fin along the middle line of the back, around
the tail, and on ‘the under side as far forward as the vent. The other
fins, the pectoral, are very emall and rudimentary, No ventral fins are
seen, They are situated under the throat, and never grow to be real
fius, but develop into the sucker already referred to. At birth the

14

ee

young lumpfish has the sucker well formed, and ean use it to fasten
itself to eel grass, or any other suitable object, when it needs rest, or to
help it to escape its enemies, By this means also they attach themselves
to seaweed or any drift material and are carried out to sea and dis-
tributed over large areas of feeding ground. As swarms are liberated
at the same place, the necessity for such a movement is evident, and
hence the disk is a very useful and valuable possession.

The median continuous fin soon begins to break up and ouciine the
future permanent ones, Examples from 6 to 7 mm. long show the two
dorsal still connected by a strip of membrane, and also with the
eauda’, -nile the latter and the anal are similarly joined. In samples
S mm, long (tig. 7), all the fins are nearly complete, and at 9 mm,
entirely so. In the meantime rays, or rod supports for the membranes,
are seen growing in all these as well as in the peetorals which are well
formed by this time. European writers tell us that Giis stage is reached
in their waters when the fish are from 10 to 12 mm. in length, and
American authors give about the same length. The transformation may
depend more upon age than upon size, but, as accurate observations
have seldom beea made, little ean be said on the matter.

The colour of the young at first is a yellowish-green, with a slight
brassy lustre and with lighter streaks, and patches occur of a silvery
sheen. The head, pectoral fin, and the base of the tail fin are dotted
with dark spots and many of these are star-like or stellate in pattern,
As the fins grow and become separate, the pigmentation or colouring
increases, and a great many of these secondary colour cells take the
colour of the rock-weed, eel-grass. or other objects among which the fish
are found, orange, brown and bright. green being the usual tints. There
is generally an unpigmented band between the eyés, and another oceurs
on each side of the head from the saout to the gill opening (fig. 7).

7. Specimen. 18 mm. long, showing peculiar colour pattern, Passamaquoddy
Bay.

wa. Specimen. 18 mm. long, showing peculiar colour pattern, Passamaquoddy
Bay.

15

Both are often to be seen in specimens 14 mm. or three-fifths of an inch
long, though they are mostly larval characters and soon lost.

We have seen that the adult lumpfish is covered with wart-l’ke
tubercles, large and small, and that the largest are arranged in serial
order, along the middle line of the back, down the sides, and along the
edges of the somewhat flattened under surface. The larval fish at birth,
and for a long time after, is very smooth, and there is no appearance of
tubercles until it is about 18 mm. (three-quarters of an inch) long, when
a few tiny ones are to be seen above and behind the eye; subsequently
the increase in number and size is rapid. When the young fish is 22 mm.
long (fig. 8), the two side rows, beginning at the head, have reached the

eee ee y ae
Lee Pats 2

ier

ae eee OR ODO Gah. Moone
eo Se: ae 2
EF F
es Ne z
ae
9
S. Specimen. 22 mm. long, showing papille® or tubercles, September 8, 1917.
9% Specimen. 32 mm. long, with series of tubercles complete, Grand Manan,

September 20, 1917,

middle of the body, and the ventral row consists of flattened papille. <At
2d mm. (one inch), the upper lateral series is complete, extending to the
base of the tail tin, the second one has not reached that point, and the
dcrsal row is just evident behind the head. At 32 mm. (one and one-
quarter inches), «ll the series are complete and numerous small tubercles
and other asperities are scattered thickly over the body (See fig. 9). The
larger tubercles are surmounted by spines, which are more or less serrate
and frequently hooked backwards, a feature well marked in fig. 10, which
is drawn from a fish 33 mm. long and a little over one year old. Com-
parisons between the larve in our waters and those observed farther
south along the Atlantic coast, as well as those of the North sea, show
that the stage of full armature is reached in our waters at a smaller size
than elsewhere.
DISPERSAL AND HABITS OF THE YOUNG.

The larve were found at all depths from the shore to 92 metres (300
feet), and to a distance of four miles off the coast, but the extent of the
offshore distribution seemed to depend a good deal upon the kind of
bottom and the depth of the immediate shore waters. Where the bottom

16

was rocky and the shore water fairly deep, the zone of distribution was
narrow; where opposite conditions were found, the dispersal was
offshore. The former is, to a large extent, the case in the Bay of Fundy
and Passamaquoddy bay, although the young fish there are often carried
seaward among drift material, but in the gulf there is a noticeable lack
of floating seaweed or other débris to help in the movement. It was
then a matter of some interest to find larve, newly hatched and about
5-5 mm, long, among the plankton 2} miles from land in June, and
more of the same size on July 4, 4 miles from the nearest land, In
the absence of drift material, there must be other means of sowing the
helpless but living seed so far from the supposed hatching grounds

surface currents due to winds and tides, or a possible extension of the
hatching grounds seaward where the shore waters are shallow and bottom
smooth or otherwise unsuitable for oviposition and hatching, These tiny
creatures had very recently been released from the egz for they had
the unmodified fin; and it is hard to understand by what means they
made a journey of 4 miles in the open sea, had they been born at the
shore. It is possible they were released from the eg j
the place where they were captured. The late date would point to
hatching under poor conditions of temperature and light. Indeed many
of the smallest larvae we secured were taken in deep water and at Joug

¢ in the vicinity of

distances from the coast.

In the daytime they are found at the surface and very few if ans
below, as towings made at the same time showed. At night they left
the wpper waters and were then found at or near the bottom. After
July none were collected at the surface, and few at the bottom, and as
the temperature of the surface waters had by that time risen to dtstat Be
(56° F.), it was thought to account for their disappearance, vet the
young lumpfish can bear a higher temperature and thrive in it. On
August 18, at House harbour, Magdalen jelands, we took two speci-
mens 15 and 17 mm. long, the largest that had been seen up to that date,
among eel-grass in a foot of water at 22° C., or 72° F, They are found
at the surface in August off the coasts of southern New England,
where the surface temperature must be even higher than that of the
gulf in July, when they disappear. The life history of the lumpfish in
the gulf is peculiar and is far from being fully underetood,

In Passamaquoddy bay the young are met with all summer among
drifting rock weed, but the surface temperature seldom prises above
9° or 10° C. On September 8, at Wilson’s Beach, Campobello island,
we collected eight specimens, ranging from 18 to 23 mm.. with a hand-
scoop, from a boat moored to a quay. They were ziezagging and
doubling under and among fragments of red and brown alew, whose
colours were blended in their own colouration. They did not appear to
rely on this, as some think, to escape notice, but invariably made use
of their muscles and fins to escape from danger, They were surprisingly

ik

active and wary, so that fully half of those coming within reach were
missed, A slowly moving tow-net of the usual size must have failed
to catch any except by the merest chance. This may throw some light
on our failure to colleet them, either at the surface or, except on one
occasion, at the bottom, off Cape Breton, after the middle of July. By
that time they had nearly doubled the larval length and were stronger,
more alert and with kee.er senses, the result of a larger experience and
knowledge of their surroundings. Larger nets, moving more rapidly,
might have told a different story, for in the North sea, where the lump-
tish has been carefully studied, the young have been found at the surface
all the year. Indeed it is doubtful if it becomes at all localized during
the first year, but rather leads a planktonic life, drifting around in the
tides and currente. Some even think that the young congregate in
schools when they have reached a certain size, but we saw no evidence
of this in the gulf, unless the large and exceptional haul of twenty-nine
individuals, taken one mile off Cheticamp, indicated the presence of
a drift swarm.

THE RATE OF GROWTH.

The lumpfish is said to g* io be over two feet long, and to weigh
from 12 to 20 pounds; but such large fish are seldom caught, the
average size being a little over a foot in length and the weight
from 8 to 5 pounds. The young seem to make a pretty rapid growth
during the first summer, sometimes doubling the average length in a
month; but there are sore reasons for believing that little imerease is
made during the winter, especially in the gulf, when ice forms over the
greater part of it and chills the water to such an extent as to weaken
the vital processes.

We collected larve on July 13 that averaged 7-6 mm. in length,
and a month later two taken at House harbour averaged 16 mm., and
some at cheticamp 17 mm. in length. It is seen that they doubled the
average length in a month. Earlier in the season, while the larve are
tiny and weak, and food conditions not so good, the growth is much
slower, but it is a hard matter to ealculate it correctly for there is
always a number of very small ones mixed with others perhaps twice
their size. This is due to the long spawning period during which some
larve are freed from the egg even before oviposition is over, and thus
the earlier become mixed with the later ones. On September 8 the fry
taken at Wilson’s beach, Campobello island, averaged about 22 mm. It
is thus seen that the relative size and rate of growth in the gulf and in
Passamaquoddy bay do not diser much during the summer, but in
winter there appears to be a greater arrest of development in the former
than in the latter, probably due to the presence of ice im the gulf. On
July 7 we got a specimen 33 mm. (one and one-third inches) long

18

a
3

(fig. 10) adhering to the buoy of a lobster trap in six fathoms off the
southwest point of Cheticamp island, which was certainly a year old at
least, for its size, adult appearance, and full equipment of strong
tubercles marked it off sharply trom the season's fry.

10

10. Specimen. 33 mm, long, S.W. Point, Cheticamp Island, in 6 fathoms,
July, 7, 1917,

Two were collected at Grand Manan, December 12, 41 and 45 mm.
long respectively, which were evidently the young of that year. Thus
in three months the growth doubled in that locality. If the 33 mm.
one is a fair representative of the size attained in the gulf the first
year, it is only a little more than half that reached in the mouth of the
Bay of Fundy and in adjacent waters. As we have seen, there is very
little difference during the summer months and hence growth mu-t
continue during autumn and early winter at least, in the latter plac ,
while it slows down and practically ceases in the former, This contrast
has been noticed in the case of other fishes, and is very marked in the
Canadian plaice. <A lumpfish was taken at Barrington passage in the
mouth of the Bay of Fundy in June, 1910, which was 55 mm., or one
and two-third times the size of the Cheticamp example of the same age.

Some writers think that the lumpfish is a very slow grower, and
that large ones of two or more feet in length and weighing from 12 to
20 pounds must be very old, It is likely true of some regions but not
-f all. A fish, suited to a certain range, will be found to shade off and
become less vigorous. and less numerous as it recedes north or south
from where the optimum or best conditions are found. Where open
water prevails, and the temperature does not rise too high in the
summer or sink too low in the Winter, as in the Bay of Fundy and
along the Atlantic littoral of Nova Scotia, the lumpfish may make a
fairly rapid and uniform growth, as evidenced by the fry being 23 mm.
long in August, 43 mm. in December, and 55 mm. in the following
June, in and about the mouth of the Bay of Fundy. Along the New
England coast, where the summer temperature rises pretty high, it
seems to grow more slowly, which is the case also in the lower part of
the North sea and the Baltic, where the mature fish average much
smaller than farther north. The small size, reached in the gulf of St.
Lawrence the first year, is likely followed by an equally slow develop-
ment at all stages.

13

3y means of certain rings on the scales, the age of most fishes can
be found out pretty accurately, but the lumpfish has, instead of scales,
peculiar wart-like tubercles, ending generally in spines, not growing
like ordinary seales, and, having no known character by which the
age of the fish can be told. Similarly the joints of the backbone
often show the annual growths by a serics of concentric rings on the
side of the cup at each end of a joint, but the backbone of the lumpfish
is composed of cartilage, somewhat hardened although still not real
bone, and the markings are faint, irregular, and difficult to make out.
However, by staining and clearing them, we were able to arrive at some
general results, which may not be absolutely correct. Fig. 11 is from
wu specimen 11 em, (43 ii:ches) long und was judged to be in its third
year, Fig. 12 is the vertebra of a fish 26 cm. (10 inches) in length

Fig. 11. Vertebra of Lump-fish, 11 ¢.m long,
and in its 3rd year. Bay of Fundy.
x10 M. Anderson.

Fig. 12. Vertebra of Lump-fish, 26 ¢.m. long
and in its 5th year. Campobello,
September §&, 1917. x4 M. Anderson.

Fig. 13. Vertebra of Lump-fish, 306 ¢.m.
long, and in its 7th year. Cheti-
camp, July 7, 1917. x 5 M. Anderso .

20

a vais

ee

[o>}

ounds)
A

P

Weight (
co

z - 6 8
Length (inches)

Graph showing the ratio

10 12 lt

Fig. 14. The Lump-fish. of length to weight

which was apparently in the fifth year, while fig. 13 is drawn from a
fish 30-6 em. (12 inches) long and in it six rings are seen. Another
specimen 34 cm. in length showed seven rings. It was a spent male
and weighed 8 pounds, When the lumpfish reaches 46 or 47 em. (19
inches) it is said to weigh 10 pounds. Cape Breton fishermen tell of
taking fish over 2 feet long and weighing 20 pounds or more, and they
are reported oecurring of that size in the northern part of the gulf.
The weight increases more rapidly than the length. A fish 7-6 cm.
weighed 21-3 grams; another 9-3 em., 33-6 grams; a third 15 cm., 134
grams; a fourth 30 cm., 1,020 grams; and a fifth 32-5 em., 1,474 grams
(3 Ibs. 4 0z.). At this rate of inerease a lumpfish 70 cm. long, a size
sometimes reported in Europe, would probably weigh 20 pounds or
more.

Since the above was written, we have received from Dr. A. G.
Huntsman a collection of lumpfish from Passamaquoddy bay made in
the autumn of 1918. They ranged in length from 18 to 153 mm. and
have furnished the ehief data for the construction of the graph shown
in fig. 14, which represents the ratio of the length to the weight. The
graph confirms the general conclusions already drawn from the study
of a limited quantity of material.

It is remarked that in the case of fry between the lengths of 18
and 40 mm., an increase of 5 mm. in the length results in a doubling
of the weight, but above 40 mm. the ratio of increase in weight is less.
Doubling the length increases the weight from seven- to nine-fold, or
approximately the weight varies as the cube of the length, and hence a
lumpfish 2 feet in length must weigh from 18 to 20 pounds or more.

QUALITIES AS A FOOD FISH.

With the increase of population, especially in the central provinces
of the Dominion, and a growing demand for Canadian food-fishes in the
world’s markets, coupled with the soaring of the price of foodstuffs to
unprecedented heights, the Canadian consumer is becoming more and
more interested in every proposition to increase the amount of edible
fish and lessen somewhat the cost of living. Prices have doubled,
trebled or even quadrupled in a few years; the quantity available for
home consumption has continued to shrink as the foreign demand and
prices have risen, so that a veritable fish famine is ottea experienced in
our midst.

To relieve this shortage and supply the demand with an article at
a moderate price, attention is being turned to the utilization of other
and cheaper forms of food-fishes than the staple ones of the trade.
Many of these are of excellent auality and in demand among Europeans,
where they form no small part of the fish consumed as food and can
generally be bought at reasonable rates. The lumpfish is one of them.

22

Sidaiial voit

abbas sebbbi ged ht

As already said, it abounds in the shore waters of the Maritime Pro-
vinces where it is taken in considerable quantities in the prosecution
of the salmon and haddock fisheries, but is seldom used for food. thouzh
it is a rich, tender, well-flavoured, and nourishing fish; and, if put on
the market and its merits made known, would soon be in demand. In
England and Scotland it is held in high esteem by many and is regarded
as second only to the far-famed turbot.

The abundance of the old and well-established food-fiches hm our
rivers and coast waters which heretofore sold at very reasonable rates
was, in part at least, responsible for our neglect of the lumpfish, cunner
and flounder, as well as of other fishes which are largely eaten in
Europe. The tastes of a people, too, are apt to run in certain ruts and
conform to certain etandards, so that one generation easily follows the
likes and dislikes of a previous one. It is largely a matter of education.
The common sturgeon, one of the best food-fishes in the world perhaps,
was, until within a few years, plentiful in the St. John river, New
Brunswick, where it reached the length of 10 or 12 feet and the weight
of 400 or 500 pounds. The residents along the river looked upon it as
something unclean and dangerous. Their parents had held it off at a
safe distance; it would be prudent for them to follow the same salutry
course and take no risks, And so it went on fr u generation to
generation. The large fish disported daily before cir doors. some
times, too, in the presonce of hunger and suffering; and if one happened
to be caught in a shad or salmon net. it was thought to be highly
honoured if it were towed ashore, boiled and fed to the hogs; generally
it was knoced on the head and turned adrift. We grew up in this
atmosphere of prejudice, and well remember numerous instances of the
kind.

Many years ago, some enterprising American fishermen and fish
dealers arrived on the scene and established a sturgeon fishery, whieh,
for some years, netted big profits to all concerned. The fish were
shipped to Boston and New York where the article was in demand, and
the business grew to be one of the industries of the river. But in a
few years it began to decline and the special fishery came to an end.
Here was a prime article of food. in value and nourishing quality equal
to the salmon, yet was it unutilized for generations. Our attitude
towards the lumpfish and others is just as foolish, but the stringency
of the times will likely help us in brushing aside these prejudices and
setting ourselves right in the matter.

In the Baltic and North sea countries it is one of the staple food-
fishes and its consumption is increasing, proving that it must have
many good qualities which recommend it to fisheaters. The Teelanders
are very fond of it and eat it either fresh or preferably smoked. as it
keeps well for a long time when so prepared. The latter, too, is the
favourite way of preparing ii in Germany as well as in Denmark.

23

When used fresh, it is generally. fried, as boiling is said to injure the
flavour. A gentleman, living in Chatham, N.B., informed us lately that
he had used it in the spring of 1918 both fresh and salted, and had no
hesitation in saying it was one of our very best food-fishes. It was, in
his opinion, equal to the salmon in flavour and food value besides being
more tender. We had it served at Cheticamp in the summer of 1917,
and found it sweet and palatable. For many years, according to
writers on this fish, it has been used in Halifax to a limited extent, and
more generally along the coasts of Chaleur bay. When its merits as
a nourishing food become known, it is certain to be in as great demand
in Canada as it is now in Europe.

THE LUMPFISHERY OF EUROPE.

This industry has already been referred to, but a more detailed
account of its magnitude and importance may help us to appreciate
better our opportunities, and to render it very probable that with effort
and business thrift we shall be able to build up a good trade in this
commodity. The time is favourable; the unutilized stock is at hand;
fish foods are scarce and must continue to be in great demand for some
years at high prices; and from a national point of view it is our duty
to seek to develop every resource to help to meet the shortage and bear
the financial burdens of the country.

At. Heligoland, a very small island in the southern part of the
North sea and just off the mouth of the Elbe, the lumpfish are simply
‘‘oaffed” by the fishermen at low tide, and while they are guarding the
eggs. The gaff is simply a short iron hook at the end of a pole, and,
armed with this. the fisherman wades along the shore, peering among
seaweed or under rocks for the fish; which, when discovered, are easily
captured. In this primitive way the fishermen of this little island not
only supply their own people with an article of food which is in much
demand. but from 1905 to 1908 sold 30,940 pounds to merchants from
North sea German ports. These Heligolanders consider the fish a great
dainty, and we are informed that the highest prices in Europe are paid
there, especially at the beginning of winter when lumpfish are in prime
condition. Then prices often range as high as 74 cents a pound retail
for undressed fish, which would be equal to about 18 cents for the
dressed article. The price, however, fluctuates, according to the season
and the abundance or searcity of the stock. In May it was, for the year
already mentioned, about 3 cents wholesale; in June and July the fish
were very plentiful, and large quantities were also brought into Germany
by Danish fishermen from the Cattegat and the Sound. Then the lowest
values prevailed, two cents or even less: in November the price advanced
24

to 4 cents, wholesale, To the man in the street these prices seem very
low, but they were higher than the fishermen of the Maritime Provinces
were receiving for their codfish, beheaded, split, and ready for
“ striking.”

Danish fishermen take large quantities, mostly in the North sen,

Cattegat and Sound, but the adjacent parts of the Baltic are also fished,
and a considerable stock is brought from distant Ieeland. The Danish
: government classes it as a staple food-tish, and regular statisties of the
5 trade are kept from whieh the following summary is taken:
3 P
i 1903 M4 1905 1006 17
& Pounds) Value | Pounds! Value | Pounds: \ Hue | Pounds Value || Pounds Varlue
¢ ($) §) 8 $ S
3 “
2
3 North Sea | 597,825/8,02; 90 325,611.6,080 93 004/7,340 48) 532,900 8.719 81 S88 A017 166 2
4 Cattegat.... | 346,401/4,568 70) 216.612/4.087 02 6706, 402 000 478.995'7,920 75) SIG TH01K.104 15
£ Baltic } 240,141.3.17) 90. 109 65/2, 061 25 -334)1,047 60) 52,965) S73 GO 2 Tse TMi Se
| ee | = = -
j Total 1.184,37¢ {15,762 0) 651, 288)12,199 20) $44,008/14,790 0, 1,064,920 17,522 36. 1.677.000 M416
: “4 ; a ae fn SS
2
z
3 = ae ; -
SUMMARY FOR 1903-1907
; a :
Ff
= >
7 Pounds. Value
3 — —_ _ — = — —_ - a

North Sea..
Cattegat.
Baltic.

Total. 5,421,6468 94,431 2:

tw

1906 ly 1907
Pounds. Value Pounds Value
$
North Sea.. 454,964) 4,975 85 217,775
Cattegat 14,410 289 84 10,318

Baltic... 440,554 4,856 06 = 203,057

Total : 909,928) 10,121 75 431, 150)

vt cAI ati iit eancsdbtsiagatenicts
}
|
1
|
j

To fully appreciate the meaning of these figures and the profitable
nature of the trade, we must bear in mind that no special fishery for
lumpfish is carried on in Danish waters, but all taken are simply the
by-products of other fisheries, such as the herring, flounder, mackerel,
and salmon, and therefore represent an alimost clear profit to the fisher-
men.

25

It is seen that the catch in 1907 was large, nearly twice the average
for the four preceding years, and prices, too, were the best, averaging
over 2 cents per pound wholesale. It is evidently making ite way into
popular favour. The bul of the catch is made in the North sea and
Cattegat, but that of the Baltie seems declining, due, presumably, to
overtishing by Germans and Swedes, whose operations are quite exten-
sive. The figures given do not represent the total of the Danish trade
in this fish, which for the year 1907 was from all sources 1,500,000
pounds,

The Swedish Government does not class the lumpfish as a staple
food-tish, It is one of the many known on the market as composing
“mixed fish,” and hence statistics are not available for the whole
country; but special records of the catch in Malmohushlan, one of the
thirteen Baltic districts, are at hand for 1906 and 1907, and although not
complete give us an idea of the big business done in this fish. The aggre-
gate for the two years was at least 1,341,078 pounds, worth $15,666.03,
caught and marketed by the fishermen of cue district alone. As fishing
ié a very common industry along the Swedish littoral the total catch
must have amounted to several million pounds ond formed no ineon-
siderable part of the whole fish trade of the thirteen provinces.
Altogether a by-product of other fisheries, it means a clear profit to
those engaged in the business. Here, in Canada, it is looked upon by
fishermen as a nuisance and thousands are destroyed daily, or emptied
into the sea from nets and traps during the haddock and early salmon-
fishing season. Were a demand for it once created in Canada, tishermen
would be anxious to save and bring ashore whatever they caught and
prepare them in the most desirable way for shipment.

HOW MARKETED AND USED.

Large quantities are put on the German and Swedish markets
smoked, and in this state it is said to keep well and preserve its flavour
It is beheaded, the entrails removed, and the thias skin pulled off, even
the belly parts, wiich are very thin, being cut away. In this way a
rather uncanny-looking creature is changed to a round, plump, and
pinkish body inviting favourable attention. They are then strung on
rods and smoked. The fresh-fish retailer always presénts them to his
customers cleaned and ready, and the Danish and Swedish fishermen
often bring them to German ports prepared in this way.

Fig. 15 shows the skin of the lumpfish to be enormously thickened,
especially where it forms a hump on the back and a series of lateral
ridges, and it makes up no inconsiderable part of the total weight. The
head, however, is short and the entrails not at !1 bulky so that a good
proportion of the fish is choice, edible flesh.

To find what percentage of the total weight the latter represented,
we dressed a fish 32 em. (18 inches) long in the way described, besides

96

removing all the fins, including the tail, and do per cent of the total
weight re mained, A codfish, dre essed in the sme way bit Without the
thin belly parts being removed, vielded 50 per cent oof edible flesh,

showing a slight advantage in this respeet, but in. all others it ig

inferior, especially in de lieney and richness,

By preparing them isa this
Way, & very considerable SaVIN

g could he rrivelee isa thee

of transport
ing them to the more remote nuirkets,

The favourite way of cooking it fresh js by frying or baking, as the

delicious tlavonr and rich, Juicy quatity retained. When smoked
and prepared for the table hy the usual methods, it is Considered
excellent. This fish is said, Hot ons t

}
Hre Dest

to keep well when sinoked, but j
is also cliimed that the distinetive taste and

peculiar qualities are
preserved best, when it is thus prepared,

SPECIAL FISHERY.

If all the lumpfish were saved which are now eaueht Incidentally
in the other fisheries, the total would be surprising, and would likely
keep the market well supplied for some years, Tf, however, a demand

should arise which present methods could uot meet. the quest

LS dg
—t

how to extend the business would have to be considered, and the matter
of a special fishery would come up. The suecesa of such an enterprise
inust depend on the quantity of fish und on the ability of the lumptish
to maintain itself in the face of the increased drain. A better know ledge
than we have at present of the movements and especially of the haunte
of the fish during most of the year, would be also useful, for fishermen
should know all these things in order to make the ‘vost of their time
and investments.

As far as we can judge the shore waters are well stocked, especially
in April, May and June. and in some places, during the whole summer
and autumn, Otter trawls or similar gear operated along shore at such
times should prove effective, and salmon and other nets, set, if possible,
in advance of the season for their respective fisheries and with leaders
somewhat parallel to the shore, should make large eatehes, at least
during the spawning migration. It is unlikely that the use of such
means will exhaust the stock, for the lumpfish are maintaining them-
selves well in the North sea and Cattegat; indeed the annual eateh has
been increasing for some years. r-fishing seems to be depleting the
stock frequenting the Swedish ees'of the Baltie, but it is unlikely
that we would be confronted with a decline for many years.

It would not only be interesting from a scientific standpoint but
of much importance from an economic one to locate the autumn and
winter haunts of this fish. Then the fishermen would know just where
to go and what kind of means to employ for its capture. This das
proved a difficult matter elsewhere.

In 1901 an expedition for this purpose was fitted out in the Baltic
which spent nearly two months, September and October, searching for
the aut ton hawnts of the large lumpftish which approach the shores in
spring, but did not succeed in locating ther It did find a compara
tively small quantity, but it was made up of individuals too small to
he of much commercial value, and from both the business and scientific
standpoint it was a failure, except for its negative results. We have
the same problem to solve, From the middle of April to the middle of
June, or a little later, large lumptish are plentiful around the shore ;
after that they disappear. If the fishery were to expand to large
proportions im Canada, the Jecating of such autumn and winter
erounds will mark a new and important step in its development. It 1s
true that operations could not be carried on in the guif during the
winter. but the Bay of Fund; and Atlantie littoral of Nova Seotia
would be accessible all the vear.