56 



the catches of the commercial fleets from the different 

 grounds in the area. 



I assume that what we stand most in need of at present 

 is full and accurate statistics in regard to our fisheries, 

 and nruch more detailed information than we have as 

 to the distribution round the coast both of fishes in all 

 stages of growth, and also of the lower animals with 

 which they are associated, and upon which they feed. I 

 consider that what is necessary to give us that informa- 

 tion is the nearest approximation we can make to a 

 census of certain parts of our seas, beginning with the 

 territorial waters and those off-shore grounds that 

 supply them, and are definitely related to them. The 

 work would be partly of a statistical nature, and partly 

 scientific observations and investigations, and it seems 

 clear that it is only by such a combination of methods 

 that we can hope to settle many important fishery 

 questions. My contention, then, is that such an investiga- 

 tion of our seas must be made, that it is urgent and should 

 be made as soon as possible, and that the Irish Sea is 

 favourably situated to be made a test case before xmder- 

 taking the much wider and more difficult expanse of the 

 North Sea, complicated by international questions. The 

 Irish Sea is of moderate and manageable dimensions.* It 

 is all bounded by British territory and by sea fisheries 

 authorities, which might agree as to regulations. Its 

 depths and the nature of its bottom deposits are most 

 varied. It is a " self-contained " fish area, containing 

 spawning banks, feeding grounds, and " nurseries." It 

 has several laboratories (Liverpool, Dublin, Port Erin, 

 and Piel) situated on its borders, which would form con- 

 venient centres for investigation, and it is controlled 



* Its wider area north of Holyhead contains about 10,000 square 

 miles, and is about one-twentieth part of the area of the North Sea. 



