12 
observations as to leave no doubt as to the conditions of 
fisheries and the progress of events. 
I have spoken of the statistics as being incomplete and 
inadequate ; but although they do not give us the informa- 
tion we expected, they are by no means useless. Every 
correct observation, and there are many thousands of such 
in our sheets, is of value even if it deals with isolated 
facts. It may give useful information which may be 
required at any time, and we hope that all these observa- 
tions may fit in with our future records of facts, and so 
play their part eventually in the elucidation of important 
points. 
Statistics obtained as the result of investigations made 
with regularity at fixed spots in accordance with a definite 
scheme are the more necessary since such very different 
conclusions have been drawn of late years from the com- 
mercial statistics as supplied by the Board of Trade. One 
of the most recently expressed of these is an article by 
Mr. Walter Garstang, entitled ‘The Impoverishment of 
the Sea,’ in which the conclusion is arrived at that the 
fish population is decreasing because although the total 
catch increases year by year, the take per unit of catching 
power diminishes. I do not quarrel with Mr. Garstang’s 
conclusion, but the argument by which he arrives at it 
does not carry conviction. Except on ground where 
there is practically an unlimited number of fish, doubling 
the number of boats would surely not lead to doubling 
the catch, and consequently as the boats increased 
the take per boat would diminish to some extent without 
there being necessarily a permanent reduction of the fish 
population. 
Turning to another important side of fisheries work, 
namely, experimental investigation, it is of interest to 
note that in the twenty-fifth Report of the United States 
