334 ANCHOVIES IN THE ENGLISH CHANNEL. 



the anchovy in the Zuyder Zee, and the relation of the temperature 

 of the water to the abundance of the fish and the success of the 

 fishery in different summers. Prof. Hoffmann shows from a com- 

 parison of the variations of summer temperature, and of the product 

 of the anchovy fishery from 1857 to 1885, variations which he ex- 

 hibits graphically by curves in carefully constructed diagrams, that 

 a high temperature in one summer is followed by a large catch of 

 anchovies in the foil oiv in g summer. He finds that the anchovy grows 

 very rapidly, and that the reason of the fact just stated is, that in 

 a warm summer more young anchovies are produced than in a cold 

 one, and these returning to the Zuyder Zee in the following year, 

 when they are already adult, afford the fishermen a heavy spoil. 

 The young anchovies are hatched in June, and by October, according 

 to Hoffmann, have reached the length of 4| inches. 



II. The Prospects op an Anchovy Fishery in England. 



In November, 1889, paragraphs in various newspapers stated that 

 the fishermen of Dover and Deal had been catching large numbers 

 of anchovies in their nets, and had thrown them overboard through 

 ignorance of their nature and value. Professor Lankester instructed 

 me to go to Dover and make inquiries into this matter, as it seemed 

 to him advisable to ascertain whether anchovies could be regularly 

 obtained in English waters, and if so, to endeavour to establish a 

 trade in them which would benefit both the fishermen and the com- 

 munity generally. Accordingly I went to Dover, and found that 

 the fish believed to be anchovies had been caught by the sprat-fisher- 

 men. The nets used at that place for the capture of sprats are drift 

 nets containing sixty-four meshes to the yard, that is, meshes about 

 half an inch square. These nets are worked by open boats rigged 

 with mainsail, foresail, and mizen, the mast being moveable. The 

 nets are usually shot about a mile from the shore near the Admiralty 

 Pier, towards the end of the flood tide, and they drift eastwards. 

 Sprats are only caught in autumn and winter, chiefly in November 

 and December. I was told that some boats had obtained at one 

 shot 4000 sprats and 1000 anchovies. One man said he had seen 

 anchovies among the sprats every winter, but never in such abun- 

 dance as last season. I was unable to get any specimens of the 

 anchovies on this occasion at Dover, for the sprat-fishing was tem- 

 porarily suspended ; some men had tried for them during the pre- 

 vious week, but had caught none. The reason of this, according to 

 the fishermen, was that the weather was too quiet and the water too 

 clear, so that their nets were visible on account of the phosphores- 

 cence on them in the water. They said that the best weather for 



