4o6 A HISTORY OF FISHES 



the Ministry (then Board) of Agriculture and Fisheries, with its 

 headquarters in London. After the war a fisheries laboratory 

 with an augmented staff was established in one of the big 

 houses on the Esplanade at Lowestoft, and a powerful vessel, the 

 George Bligh, was also acquired and converted for research 

 purposes. The very important work in marine biolog)^ and 

 hydrography which is required to supplement that of the 

 Fishery Department was continued at Plymouth and other 

 marine laboratories in England, these being subsidised out of 

 pubhc funds for this purpose. The more important of these 

 laboratories are situated at Port Erin, and at Cullercoats on 

 the coast of Northumberland, and are attached to the 

 Universities of Liverpool and Durham respectively. 



Considerations of space will not allow even a brief account of 



the many and varied branches of fishery research, and it must 



suffice to indicate a few of the more important problems that 



present themselves and the methods adopted for their solution. 



Mention has been made of the comparatively recent science 



of oceanography, and it is clear that no hard and fast line can 



be drawn between this and fishery research. Practically all 



the work carried out by the oceanographer, whether of a 



biological or hydrographical nature, will be found to have 



some bearing, direct or indirect, on the lives of the food-fishes. 



Even when in its infancy the practical value of marine biological 



work to the welfare of the fisheries was amply demonstrated 



when a controversy arose in the latter part of the last century 



as to the possible harmful effects of the introduction of steam 



trawling. It was suggested that the heavy trawl dragged over 



the sea-floor would destroy large quantities of fish eggs, but on 



the matter being referred to the scientific advisers, they were 



able to say at once that such fears were without foundation. 



The development of the more important food-fishes had already 



been studied, and it was pointed out that, with the sole exception 



of the Herring, whose eggs are deposited in adhesive masses on 



grounds generally so rough that trawling would be almost 



impossible, the eggs of all our food-fishes are of the pelagic, 



drifting kind. 



To obtain a complete and intimate knowledge of the life- 

 history and habits of each species is one of the most important 

 branches of research. This involves a study of the spawning 

 habits, the location of the spawning grounds, the recognition 

 of the eggs and larvae and a knowledge of their development, 

 the rate at which the fish grow, and the relation between this 



