324 



possibly of great importance to have determined what they 

 were, and that might easily have been done had there been 

 in this State a competent inspector alert tO' make enquiries 

 and capable of following up his enquiries by careful investiga- 

 tion. Reference has already been made to the appointment 

 of such a man in N.S.W., and I am informed privately by 

 Mr. Duffield that it is proposed to ask the N.S.W. Government 

 for the loan of his services for a time in order that he may 

 examine into the conditions along our S.A. coasts, and perhaps 

 instruct a local officer as to the lines on which observations 

 should be carried out in the future. Such a proposal would, 

 I am sure, be heartily welcomed by all who are interested 

 in the state of ou.r fisheries, but it will need more than that 

 to cope with the difficulties with which we are faced. I may 

 quote here from the lecture of Mr. Dannevig before referred 

 to-. He says : "Latterly it has been recognised, however, that 

 while most excellent and necessary work was carried out by 

 marine laboratories, many important questions relating to 

 marine fisheries could not always be solved ashore. It was 

 found necessary to extend the investigation to the sea itself 

 and where it was essential in order to' arrive at a satisfactory 

 solution of questions of a practical natui^e, to enquire into 

 these in a rational manner and on a sufficiently extensive 

 scale to eliminate the exceptions which often will attend 

 upon experiments carried out upon a small and otherwise 

 limited scale, and give rise to regrettable misconceptions. 

 Such practical investigations, conducted on scientific prin- 

 ciples, have lately been carried out by leading men. Dr. 

 Wemyss Fulton, the superintendent in charge of the fishery 

 investigations under the Scottish Fishery Board, has lately 

 dealt with fishery problems in such a way and with singular 

 success. Similar work has also been carried on by Professor 

 Herdman and others in England, while the Americans have 

 long recognised the necessity of carrying out practical investi- 

 gations. Amongst the European counti'ies bordering on the 

 North Sea there has been evinced lately a. strong desire to 

 combine their efforts to enquire into the various factors bear- 

 ing upon the now greatly declined fisheries of the North Sea. 

 International conferences were held from time to time with a 

 view to establishing co-operation, and, after protracted nego- 

 tiations, an arrangement has now been made. Great Britain 

 is taking a principal part in this work, and for the coming 

 three years has undertaken to expend a sum of £42,000 on 

 the portion of the work allotted to her. The undertaking 

 is a gigantic one, and, whatever the result may be, it shows 

 the recognition by the leading European countries of the 



