[ ^37 ] 



Some Results of the International Fishery 

 Investigations. 



By 

 Jas. Johnstone. 



It is always an unsatisfactory task to attempt to summarize the results 

 of an extensive piece of scientific work while this is still in progress. 

 The conclusions made during the course of a series of researches are 

 necessarily tentative ones, and subject to more or less modification when 

 the work comes to an end. Even the main facts elicited during the 

 investigation do not at the time present themselves in their real 

 proportions. One fails to appreciate the importance of some, and may 

 be tempted to give emphasis to others which do not possess the 

 significance assigned to them. Such considerations aj)ply with special 

 force to the following sketch of the main results apparent so far from 

 the work of the International Fishery Investigations in the Northern 

 European seas. Nine countries — Britain, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, 

 Finland, The Netherlands, Norway, Eussia, and Sweden — are engaged 

 in these researches. Each country has its own staff of scientific men 

 (and women); its own exploring vessels and laboratories; and its 

 own publications.* Controlling and supervising all this work is the 

 International Council, operating through the Bureau at Copenhagen, and 

 the Central Laboratory at Christiania. 



Common plans and programmes of work were arranged by the Council 

 at the outset of the investigations and at various times since then ; but 

 while this is the case, each country is still at liberty to " fight for its 

 own iiand." It will easily be seen then that the co-ordination of the 



* For the English reader the following are the most important publications : — 



The Rapports et Procis-verbaux of the Couneil, especially vol. iii. 



The English Blue l)ook3. Fishery and Ilydrographic Investigations iit. the North Sea and 

 adjacent regions (cd. 2612, 1905 ; and cd. 2(570, 1905). North Sea Fishery Investigations, 

 Reports and Correspondence , vol. i. (cil. 2966, 1905). (Vol. ii. of this Blue book is identical 

 with Rapports et Procis-verbaiix, vol. iii.) 



The Bulletin des Rcsultats (if the Council. 



The I'ablications de Circonstancc of the Council. 



The Danish Mcddelelser fra Kommissioncn for Ilavicndensogelser (in English). 



The (Jerman Beteiligung Deutschlands an den Internationalen Mecrcsforschung. 



The Journal of the Marine Biological Association. 



There are of course other publications, but the above are the most noteworthy and 

 generally interesting. 



NEW SERIES. VOL. VII. NO. 5. OCTOBER, 1906. 2 G 



