72 NOTES ON A FISHING VOYAGE TO THE 



are due. I am also indebted to my friend, Mr. A. E. Jones, who 

 accompanied me and recorded the various measurements. During the 

 collation of my material and the preparation of this memoir, I have 

 received much valuable assistance and advice from my colleagues at 

 Lowestoft, particularly from Drs. Wallace, Garstang, and Allen. 



Owing to the keen struggle to make and keep the " White Sea " 

 fishing a commercial success, it was naturally stipulated that the 

 actual position of the fishing grounds should not be revealed. This 

 from the immediate scientific point of view is immaterial, nor was it 

 the object of the investigation. 



Depths, however, are of importance in the distribution of plaice, 

 and their insertion entails no breach of trust, as the latest Admiralty 

 charts afford no clue to the position of the fishing bank visited. 

 Doubtless in the course of time the fishing in the area will be 

 generally understood, but by that time the pioneer fishermen of Hull 

 will have reaped the rich reward of their discoveries, and the know- 

 ledge gained will continue to stand them in good stead. 



I propose here to deal with the notes made on the various fishes met 

 with during the voyage, but before doing so will recall briefly the 

 general conditions which are found throughout the year in the Barents 

 Sea as far as they are at present known.* 



The sea is at its coldest in June. From this time an inflow of 

 Atlantic water commences, and continues till November, bestowing a 

 considerable increase of temperature on the whole area. After 

 November the influence of the Arctic water gradually predominates. 

 It has been pointed out by Knipowitsch that the fisheries of the 

 Barents Sea are dependent on this annual flood of warm Atlantic 

 water. 



The coming of the most important fishes with this flood, and their 

 subsequent departure when Arctic conditions again prevail, have been 

 studied by the Eussian investigators by means of fishing experiments. 

 By these means it has been found that quantities of fish can be 

 obtained in the neighbourhood of the different branches of the North 

 Cape Current at the times when there is no fishery worthy of mention 

 on the usual fishing grounds along the Murman coast. To cite one 

 example!: from May 15-l7th, 1898, quantities of haddock, catfish, 

 halibut, black halibut, cod, Norway haddocks, tusk, and other fish were 



* L. BiiEiTFUSs. Ozeanographische ,Studicn iiher das Barents Meet: retcrmanns 

 Mitteihmgcn, II, 1904. 



N. Knipowitsch. Expedition fur wissensclmftlich-praktische Untersiichiingen an der 

 Murman- Kiiste, I. Cf. Rapports et Proces-verbaux. Appendix A, Vol. iii, 1905. 



t N, Knipowitsch. Expedition fiir ivissenschaftlich-p>raktische UntersucMbngcn an der 

 Murman- K teste, I, p. 594. 



