THE SEA-FISHERIES 



299 



much help may have been given to a depleted fishery, 

 although no effect is noticeable. The condition of the 

 fishery might have been far worse had no artificial help 

 been given. 



When one thinks of the enormous numbers of eggs pro- 

 duced naturally, in a season, by most of our common fish, 

 as shown in the following list, one is inclined to fear that the 

 comparatively small number of millions, or even of hundreds 

 and thousands of millions, of young fish turned out from 

 hatcheries, will be of little avail, and may amount to nothing 

 more than the proverbial " drop in the bucket." 



The average number of eggs spawned by a single female 

 fish in the course of one season is : — 



But probably a truer conception of the state of affairs is 

 obtained by reflecting that, while countless milHons are 

 produced, countless milUons also perish each season from 

 natural causes (as opposed to man's operations) — that is, 

 from their natural enemies and other adverse influences in 

 the environment. As eggs, as embryos, as larvae, and as 

 post-larval young fishes, they are the food of most of the 

 larger animals around them in the sea. Probably only a 

 very few out of each milhon peach maturity, and it is out 

 of that scanty remnant that the fisherman takes his toll, 

 and so may in some cases " overfish " a limited area so as 

 to reduce the population below its power of recovery. The 

 enormous numbers produced do not, then, necessarily mean 

 an enormous rate of increase, but they may afford man his 

 opportunity to step in and, by adding some milHons from his 



