THE COD-FISH, (Gadus morrhua,)
Is a noble inhabitant of the seas; not only on account of its size, but also for the goodness of its flesh, either fresh or salted. The body measures sometimes above three, and even four feet in length, with a proportionable thickness. The back is of a brown olive colour, with white spots on the sides, and the lower part of the body is entirely white. The eyes are large and staring. The head is broad and fleshy, and esteemed a delicious dish.
The fecundity of all fishes must be an object of the greatest astonishment to every observer of nature. In the year 1790, a Cod-fish was sold in Workington market, Cumberland, for one shilling: it weighed fifteen pounds, and measured two feet nine inches in length, and seven inches in breadth: the roe weighed two pounds ten ounces, one grain of which contained three hundred and twenty eggs. The whole, therefore, might contain, by fair estimation, three million nine hundred and four thousand four hundred and forty eggs. From such a trifle as this we may observe the prodigious value of the fishing trade to a commercial nation, and hence draw a useful hint for increasing it; for, supposing that each of the above eggs should arrive at the same perfection and size, its produce would weigh twenty-six thousand one hundred and twenty-three tons; and consequently would load two hundred and sixty-one sail of ships, each of one hundred tons burden. If each fish were brought to market, and sold as the original one, for one shilling, the produce then would be one hundred and ninety-five thousand pounds; that is to say, the first shilling would produce twenty times one hundred and ninety-five thousand, or three million nine hundred thousand shillings.
In the European seas, the Cod begins to spawn in January, and deposits its eggs in rough ground among rocks. Some continue in roe until the beginning of April. Cod-fish are reckoned best for the table from October to Christmas. The air-bladders, under the name of sounds, are pickled, and sold separately.
The chief fisheries for Cod are in the Bay of Canada, on the great bank of Newfoundland, and off the isle of St. Peter, and the isle of Sable. The vessels frequenting these fisheries are from a hundred to two hundred tons burden, and will each catch thirty thousand Cod, or more. The best season is from the beginning of February to the end of April. Each fisherman takes only one Cod at a time, and yet the more experienced will catch from three to four hundred in a day. It is a fatiguing work, owing particularly to the intense cold they are obliged to suffer during the operation.
Cod frequently grow to a very great size. The largest that is known to have been caught in this kingdom was taken at Scarborough, in the year 1775; it measured five feet eight inches in length, and five feet in circumference, and weighed seventy-eight pounds. The usual weight of this fish is from fourteen to forty pounds.
