82 THE HADDOCK PROBLEM 



the catch was over 50,000 tons ; in 1898 less than 37,500 ; 

 in 1903 again over 50,000. Obviously no one knew what 

 caused the fluctuations, and apparently no very serious attempt 

 has been made to discover the cause. 



Certain causes which have been assigned to similar fluctua- 

 tions in the case of other fish can be ruled out. 



1. They were not due to the destruction of the fry by men 

 fishing on the shallows, 'because the haddock ^ fry do not 

 frequent the shallows and are not destroyed by men at all. 



2. They could apparently not be proved to be due to the fact 

 that trawlers were destroying immature fish, for small haddock 

 after 1906 formed a smaller and smaller proportion of the 

 North Sea landings. The actual figures (which take no 

 account of the large numbers of small haddock thrown over- 

 board) were : 



Small Fish (Percentage of Catch) - 



This is no place to suggest possible explanations. It is 

 enough to note that in 1919 a fleet, which was by no means 

 back to pre-war strength, caaght a great many more haddock 

 than the 1913 fleet. 



The catches compare as follows : 



1913. 1919. 



Tons. Tons. 



England . . . . 77,693 106,551 



Scotland .... 36,505 45,197 



The problem may therefore now be shortly stated : 



1. What caused the diminishing returns of the haddock 

 fishery between 1906 and 1913 ? 



2. What caused the recovery in 1919 ? 



To ascribe the phenomena to ' natural fluctuations ' is 

 obviously to beg the question. We want to know what caused 



^ Comparatively few of the Dogger Bank haddock in 1913 were classified 

 as ' small ', only 36 per cent, in fact. The grounds beyond the 20-fathom 

 line produced many more small haddock than the shallows ; and the ¥ areas 

 (between 50 and 100 fathoms) produced as much as 60 per cent. 



2 The percentage of small haddock from the chief North Sea grounds was 

 in 1913: 



