INTERNATIONAL HEEEING EESEAECHES 179 



vertebrae, and ' similar morphological characters '. They are 

 also determined to increase their knowledge of the natural 

 history of the Norwegian herring in its younger stages. They 

 will analyse the fishermen's catches. They wall in their new 

 research vessel make repeated surveys of certain fjords in the 

 north of Norway, to investigate the occurrence of herrings, 

 their food, and the physical conditions — the temperature, for 

 instance, of the w^aters. The immediate problem is this : 

 Is there every year an influx into the fjord of a number of fish 

 of from one to five years old in mass ? Or do only very young 

 herrings come in each year ? All the time investigations will 

 be carried on into the ' small game ' of the fjord waters, and 

 into vital details like currents and the temperatures at different 

 depths. 



All this is satisfactory. Former chapters have shown that 

 many similar problems remain to be worked out with regard 

 to the herrings landed on our east coast, and that these fisheries 

 are by far the greatest in the world. It is exasperating, at first 

 sight, to see our ow^n herring problems apparently shelved even 

 temporarily. But they are not being shelved. The Norwegians 

 — w^ho are the ' sea-daddies ' of all the world — can be relied 

 upon always to ' think big '. They realized, long before we did, 

 that parochialism had no place in ocean research, and they can 

 be relied upon now% as always, to investigate the herring 

 problem as a world problem. They, like ourselves, are hard hit 

 by the war. Funds and trained w^orkers are alike scarce ; and 

 they must cut their coat according to their cloth. They will 

 complete their knowledge of the herrings w^hich spawn on the 

 south-west coast of Norw^ay. But they will regard this as 

 a step in the unravelment of the secrets of the whole herring 

 tribe. The knowledge they acquire of the hatching and develop- 

 ment of their young fishes ; the climatic conditions and the 

 diet which suit them ; the dangers which encompass them ; the 

 wanderings of the fry ; the impulses which make the adult fish 

 congregate in particular places at spawning time ; and the 

 movements of the tribe in between one spaw^ning period and 

 another — all this information will be of incalculable use when 

 the International Council finds means and opportunity to tackle 

 the other ' races ' of herrings. 



M 2 



