268 



Experiments on the Relative Abundance of Anchovies 

 off the South Coast of England. 



By 



W. li. €alderwoo<l. 



Director of the Laboratory of the Marine Biological Association. 



By a resolution of the Council of the Association, passed on the 

 25th March, 1891, it was determined to proceed as speedily as 

 possible with the inquiry into the relative abundance of anchovies 

 on the south coast of England. 



Mr. Cunningham"^ had already drawn attention to the presence 

 of anchovies, had described their specific characters and habits 

 and recorded the various " takes " which had come more especially 

 under his notice. It was shown that at Dover the sprat fishers 

 captured very considerable numbers ; that at Torquay, one fifth of 

 the fish, taken in the sprat nets, consisted of anchovies, and that 

 off Plymouth and the fishing ports of Cornwall the fish were already 

 fairly well known. 



Men fishing for pilchards, herrings, and mackerel, occasionally 

 found anchovies entangled in their nets, and since no net was used 

 of a mesh small enough to catch them in the proper manner, it was 

 very naturally supposed that, given a net of the correct mesh, 

 anchovies might be taken in such numbers that a regular fishery 

 could be established. 



On this account, therefore, the Council determined to make the 

 experiment, and Mr. Cunningham and myself took the work on 

 hand at once. 



In order that we might have a thorough knowledge of the 

 various methods employed in the capture of this fish in other 

 countries, I wrote to Prof. Marion, of Marseilles, Senor Vale, of the 

 Spanish Fishery Department, Madrid, and to Dr. Eisig, of Naples. 



Mr. Cunningham had previously written to Dr. P. P. C. Hoek, ol' 

 Holder, Zuyder Zee. 



* Anchovies in the English Channel, Journal of the Marine Biological Association, vol. i 

 (N.S.), pt. iii, p. 328. 



