B, TEE PROGRESS OF FISHING DURING THE PERIOD 1903-1940 AM) 

 THE POSSIBILITY OF A FUTURE RATIONAL EXPLOITATION 

 OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FISHING AREAS 



NORTH SEA 



Jfhen considering this subject, a distinction must be made 

 between two groups of fish; the bottom fish (haddock, cod and 

 flatfish) and the pelagic fish (herring, mackerel) o 



1« The Progress of the Bottom-fish Fishery 



First, we must determine the history of the fishing intensity 

 for bottom f isho 



ao Fishing Intensity 



Table 1 shows the average number of steam trawlers engaged 

 annually in the North Sea fishery, during 4-year periods* Table 2 

 shows the tonnage of these steam trawlers j it may be assumed that 

 the fishing power varies directly as the tonnage o Table 3 gives 

 a survey of the number of days at sea of the steam trawlers in the 

 North Sea. Finally, table 4 shows the number of motor vessels in 

 use in various countries o 



From the beginning of this century, until the first World War, 

 the number of steam trawlers and their tonnage increased steadily© 

 The small vessels were chiefly sailing ships o Toward the end of 

 this period most of these were refitted into auxiliary vessels or 

 replaced by motor vessels, increasing the fishing capacity of the 

 fleet. Therefore, from 1904 to 1913, the North Sea was fisl|ed with 

 increased intensityo 



During the first World War the fishing intensity decreased 

 greatly© Afterward, it is more difficult to get an idea of the 

 progress of the fishing intensity from the existing information© 



The total number of steam trawlers decreased rather than increased, 

 but from the increase of the average tonnage, we may assume that 

 their fishing capacity increased considerablyo It is shown in 

 table 3 that the number of days at sea of steam trawlers in the 

 North Sea declined very much© When the catches began to decline 

 in the North Sea, many trawlers, especially the larger oneSj, went 

 in search of more remote fishing grounds© 



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