138 



it is certain that if these agencies (especiall:/- such of t>-em as 

 were maintained directl-^^ hv the different governments) had contin- 

 ued to ooerate independently, each in part ignoring or perhaps en- 

 vious of' the program of the others, with all the rivalries, sus- 

 picions, and .ieaiousies that so easily spring up between different 

 nationalities', the adva.nce of oceanograph'^ would have continued 

 slow and spasmodic, especially in the s^mthetic fields in which new 

 ideas were just then opening fresh vistas. But ,1ust when the need 

 for general^ coordination in this science became most pressing, an 

 impel'ling stimulus in that direction was provided hy growing fears 

 of depletion of the sea fisheries, coupled with growing appreciation 

 of the obvious truth that it would be idle to seek rem.edlal meas- 

 ures unless all the nations whose fisheries drew from the threaten- 

 ed areas would unite in ioint examination of the existing status. ^ 

 It is not necessar-^ to describe hero the preliminary steps that fin- 

 ally crvstalllzed in the establishment of the International Coioncil 

 for the Exploration of the Sea in 1902: and in the delegation to it 

 of official authority strong enough to insure that the program of 

 investigation on which the council decided should actually be car- 

 ried out. In the annals of oceanography, this event may fairly be 

 ranked with the inception of the "Challenger" expedition in its 

 importance as a landmark of progress , because the policies of the 

 Council have controlled the lines along which oceanography has since 

 advanced in Northern Evirope, to an extent that no other single in- 

 stitution can parallel. 



This control has resulted from the fact that throughout its ex- 

 istence the Council has been entrusted with the dut-^ of coordinating 

 the scientific researches of the Fisheries Ser^.^ices to insure that 

 the cruises of pH shall correspond as to date, as to methods and 

 as to subjects of study, etc; entrusted too, with allocating to 

 each nation the part of the sea to be covered b-' it, and with ^choos- 

 ing the fisheries problems for which each nation should be primarily 

 responsible. The following list of nations that subscribe at pres- 

 ent to the council shows how widely inclusive it is: Germany, Bel- 

 gium, Denmark, Spain, France. Great Britain, Irish Free State, Italy 

 Norway, Holland, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, and Latvia. 



1. During the life of the council there have been several changes 

 in national membership, perhaps the most important being the disaf- 

 f e c tion of Russia since the revolution. 



Corresponding to this widely inclusive International member- 

 ship, the quarterly cruises have criss-crossed the seas north of 

 Russia and from Norway out to Iceland, the Atlantic off Ireland, 

 the North and Baltic Seas, and have been extended since the war to 

 the Bay of Biscay. Thus a continuous record has been obtained of 

 the physical state of the whole North Eastern Atlantic with its 

 tributary seas, of the maior seasonal fluctuations in the plankton, 

 and of the distribution, migrations, etc. of fish eggs and larval 

 fishes: not to mention the very extensive series of studies into 

 the biology of various food fishes that the Council has stim^ulated. 



The general and avowed aim of the Council being to develop 

 rational exploration of the sea on a scientific basis, it has nat- 

 urally followed that the individual membership consists chiefl"'' of 

 the directors and investigators of the ;Eu.ropean bureaux of fisheries. 



