CATALOGUE OF INSTITUTIONS— INTERNATIONAL 



93 



and considering that international cooperation is the best 

 means for obtaining satisfactory results in this direction, 

 especially if during the investigations it is kept in view 

 that their principal end is the promotion and improve- 

 ment of fisheries by the aid of international agreement, 

 this international assembly has resolved to recommend 

 to the states in question the following plan of research 

 which should be put into execution for a period of at 

 least five years. 



"After each delegate had communicated the instruc- 

 tions received from his government the work was divided 

 into sections of which the first (A) should elaborate the 

 program of hydrographic work and the second (B) that 

 of the biological work. At last a common program was 

 prepared for the organization and the administration 

 of the international cooperation." 



Program for the hydrographic and biological work 

 on the northern areas of the Atlantic Ocean, 

 in the North Sea, the Baltic, and adjacent seas: 



The principal line.s of this program inckided: 



The establi.shment of an International Council 

 for the Exploration of the Sea, composed of two 

 delegates from each country who were to elect a 

 president, vice-president, a secretary-general, 

 and substitutes, and establish the statutes and 

 the order of work of the institution ; 



Statistics on fisheries which woud be prepared 

 for the participating countries according to 

 principles adopted in common; 



The establishment of a central laboratory for 

 physical and chemical researches which are related 

 to the exploration of the sea; 



The synoptic study of the sea during all seasons 

 by means of periodic voyages within the areas 

 to be investigated. 



These general resolutions are followed by three 

 sections, (A) Hydrographic work, (B) Biological 

 work, (C) Organization of the central bureau. 



A. Hydrographic work 



I 



"The hydrographic researches should have for their 

 object: The distinction between the different layers of 

 water according to their geographical distribution, their 

 depth, their temperature, their salinity, their content of 

 gas, plankton, currents, in order to ascertain the funda- 

 mental principles not only for the determination of the 

 external environment of the useful marine animals, but 

 also for meteorological predictions for extended periods 

 in the interest of agriculture. 



II 



"As the hydrographic conditions are subject to sea- 

 sonal changes and as these influence seriously the dis- 

 tribution and the condition of life of useful marine 

 animals and the condition of the weather and other 



meteorological conditions in general, it is desirable that 

 the observations be made in so far as possible simul- 

 taneously during the four typical months, February, 

 May, August, and November, at certain definite points 

 along the same determined lines." 



Following the two foregoing paragraphs there 

 are eight other paragraphs giving instructions 

 regarding the hydrographic work. These are on 

 pages 12 to 15 of the article here cited. They 

 give an interesting account of the details of the 

 plan for the hydrographic work but it is scarcely 

 necessary to translate them for this statement. 



B. Biological work 

 I 



"(a) Determination of the geographic and bathymetric 

 distribution of the eggs and larvae of commercially 

 valuable marine fishes, for example, according to such 

 quantitative methods as those of Hensen, and with spe- 

 cial references to the most important fishes, as plaice, 

 cod and haddock, herring, etc. 



"(b) Continuous investigation of the life history and 

 the conditions of life of young fishes of economic species 

 in the post larval stages and up to maturity, paying 

 particular attention to their local distribution. 



"(c) Systematic observations of marketable fishes in 

 the mature state with reference to local varieties and 

 migrations, their conditions of life, food (for example 

 by examining stomach contents), and their natural 

 enemies, that is to say observations on the presence and 

 nature of the food of fishes on the bottom of the sea, 

 on the surface, and in the intermediate waters to a 

 depth of at least 600 meters. 



"(d) Determination of the periodic variations in the 

 presence, abundance, and mean size of useful fishes, 

 and their causes. 



II 



"(a) Experimental fishing on known fishing grounds 

 during the time of fishing as well as outside those areas 

 and at other times. 



"(b) Preparation of uniform statistics of the result of 

 these catches, indicating in detail the number of species, 

 the size and weight, and the condition of the fish: for 

 example, as the 'Scottish Fishery Board' has done on 

 board the Garland. 



"(c) The uniform use of gear appropriate to the experi- 

 mental capture of fishes of different species and different 

 sizes. 



"(d) The experimental marking and liberation of fish, 

 for example, of the plaice in as large quantities as possible 

 and in extensive areas, as has been done, for example, 

 by Dr. C. G. Joh. Petersen and Dr. T. W. Fulton (Re- 

 ports of the biological station of Denmark and the 

 'Scottish Fishery Board'), and others. 



Ill 



"(a) It is desirable to collect uniform statistics on the 

 number, the weight, and the value of the fish caught, on 



