II.— AN ENQUIRY INTO FLUCTUATIONS IN FISH 

 SUPPLY ON THE SOUTH AFRICAN COAST. 



Most of the difficulties and problems which arise in dealing 

 with fishery matters are in connection with fluctuations or 

 supposed fluctuations in the supply of fish. Very often there 

 is considerable doubt as to whether there has been a real 

 fluctuation or not, and hence the basis of all fishery regulations 

 is a system of reliable statistics, whereby it may be ascertained 

 if there has been an increase or decrease, and to what extent. 

 In cases where conflicting interests are concerned, it is nearly 

 always possible to get as many conflicting statements on such 

 points, in the absence of such statistics. The fisherman is also 

 always inclined to take a pessimistic view of the prospects of 

 his calling, and his lamentations as to the scarcity of fish are 

 as frequent as those of the farmer as to the vicissitudes of the 

 weather ; both are doubtless to be discounted to a large 

 extent as attributable to the precarious nature of the harvest 

 of sea and land. Again, there is a natural tendency to look on 

 the past in a more favourable light than the present, the " good 

 old days " that are gone being to a large extent created in the 

 present. 



With all allowances, however, for these considerations there 

 has been at times an undoubted and marked diminution or even 

 partial disappearance of fish . In European seas, for instance, the 

 herring fisheries may at certain times and places prove a com- 

 plete failure. Sardines may practically disappear, causing 

 immense loss, and even destitution among the fishing popula- 

 tion dependent on the Sardine industry. These instances may 

 be classed in one group and referred to more or less migratory 

 fish. Another kind of scarcity or disappearance is connected 

 with the more stationary species of fish, and is not of so sudden 

 a nature, being rather an increased diminution throughout 

 a number of years. Such, for instance, is the alleged diminu- 

 tion of flat fish in the North Sea. 



Both of these have been experienced in South Africa. Thus 

 the Snoek, which about 25 years ago occurred in vast numbers 

 on the West Coast and was shipped in large quantities to 

 Mauritius, more or less suddenly fell off in quantity to such an 

 extent that the export trade in these fish almost ceased, and of re- 

 cent years there have been numerous complaints of the increased 

 scarcity of various kinds of fish found more inshore, particu- 



