388 



DISCOVERY REPORTS 



In the northern region we have roughly comparable data from fourteen hauls, totalling 23 hr. 

 fishing. The abstracted weight analysis is shown in Table 40. 



Table 40. Analysis of abstracted weight data from the northern region 



Hauls considered: WS788, 789, 790A, 790B (4 hr.), 791 A, 791 B (4 hr.), 792A, 792B (4 hr.), 793, 853, 855, 8S9A, 

 859 B, 858. 



* Calculated from six weighing out of ten stations at which squids were caught, 

 ••f Calculated from twelve weighings out of thirteen stations at which rubbish was present. 



A hake fishery in this region might just show a profit if markets comparable to those in Europe were 

 available. The 'WiUiam Scoresby' obtained an average of just over i cwt. (51 kg.) of hake per hour. 

 A commercial vessel could reasonably expect to catch twice as much, and an experienced skipper, 

 Capt. Drennan, quoted by Hickling (1927, p. 10) has estimated that some 150 cwt. per 100 hr. was 

 the minimum necessary to enable a big trawler to pay her way. There was, however, very little in the 

 rest of the catch here to supplement the hake, and though relative absence of ' rubbish ' would make 

 for few repairs and easy sorting, we have to remember that these hake are smaller than the European 

 species. Most of them might correspond to (say) 'inters' at Milford Haven or 'ordinary chats' at 

 Fleetwood. Very few would equal the larger British trade categories. The big difficulty, of course, 

 which at present appears insurmountable, is the absence of a suitable market. 



From the intermediate region there are data from twenty-nine hauls totalling 44 hr. trawling, 

 shown in Table 41. 



Here the prospects are very poor, for less than half the weight of hake per hour that we had captured 

 in the northern region was taken, and a slight increase of Stromateus and Genypterus among the better 

 sorts was far too small to compensate for the shortage of hake. Moreover, a ruinous amount of rubbish 

 came up in the trawl here. 



In the southern region data are available from forty hauls, totalling 60 hr. trawling, shown in 

 Table 42. 



Here there were even fewer hake, but they included all the largest individuals of the species that 

 we captured, as can be seen from the detailed figures discussed elsewhere. Two of the best of the other 

 categories, Macruronus and Stromateus, showed their greatest relative abundance in this region. These 

 were both much more concentrated locally than the hake, so that commercial vessels seeking them 

 could be sure of far greater quantities than we captured while trying to sample the whole area. Several 

 categories — Gadidae, Nototheniiformes and Thyrsites — showed greater abundance in this region (and 

 individuals of greater size). Though the total quantities of these are very small they would all help to 



