THE CATCH OF HAKE 



113 



Coasts of Morocco and Spain, 

 Mediterranean . 



North coast of Spain and 

 southern portion Bay of 

 Biscay .... 



Southward of Ireland, i.e. edge 

 of Continental Plateau 

 (46°N.-48°N.) . 



Entrance to English Channel 

 (48°N.-51°N.) . 



West Coast of Ireland (Porcu- 

 pine Bank) 



Rockall and westward of Scot- 

 land .... 



Orkneys .... 



West coast of Scotland . 



North of North Sea : 



Middle Grounds \ 

 Witch Grounds \ 



South of North Sea 



Cattegat and Skagerrak . 



Shetland .... 



Faeroe .... 



This table is not more than very roughly accurate. On the 

 main hake grounds, for instance, to the southward of Ireland 

 the climax of the fishing is more usually in June or July than, 

 as it was in 1910, in May. From 1906 to 1909 inclusive, October 

 and November were consistently the best months to the west- 

 ward of Scotland ; January, February, March or April in the 

 Bay of Biscay and off the north coast of Spain ; the Porcupine 

 Bank supplies hake chiefly from August to December. It appears, 

 in fact, that Le Danois has argued from the state of things in, 

 or subsequent to, 1910. But the detailed figures contained in 

 the statistical tables for the years 1906-10 (pubhshed by the 

 EngKsh Board of Agriculture and Fisheries in 1912) show that 

 the shoals vary the time of their arrival considerably, and leave 

 in some years very much earlier than in others. What is the 

 cause of these variations ? It has long been the opinion in the 

 English fishing industry that hake are extraordinarily ' capri- 

 cious ', and very easily fished out. But it remains to be proved 

 that the fluctuations are solely, or even primarily, due to the 



1 This should probably be February, March, April. 



2 This should probably read August. 



3 This should read April to October. 

 * This should read April to December. 



^ This should read October to November. Dr. Bowman informs the writer 

 that ' the years 1903, 1904, and 1905, and more particularly 1904, were appar- 

 ently favourable years for the invasion ' of the North Sea by hake. Is it mere 

 coincidence that 1904 was also an unusually prolific year for cod, haddock, 

 and herring ? Do all these phenomena alike depend on the volume and direction 

 of flow of the Atlantic stream ? 



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