FISHERIES INVESTIGATION. . 17 
** * * * * 
The great and widespread movement towards the elucida- 
tion of fisheries problems which has begun to manifest itself 
during the last few years in the various States of Australia, 
led by New South Wales, and which must ultimately tend 
to remove a great many of the disabilities under which we 
at present labor, has recently taken a very definite and 
tangible shape. By the action of the Australian (Common- 
wealth) Government in taking the necessary steps to bring 
about the formation of an Australian Fisheries Bureau, with 
also the avowed intention of prosecuting a thorough and 
searching inquiry of a permanent character into the nature 
and importance of our boundless marine resources, a great 
forward step has been taken. The fine investigation ship 
which is now under construction in New South Wales for the 
Commonwealth Government must itself be a very powerful 
instrument in the collection of useful and highly-important 
data in regard to the identity, occurrence, periodicity, and 
distribution of our fishes—particularly, I think, those of a 
pelagic or oceanic nature, of which we possess so many 
valuable species, and about which we know so little. It is 
to be sincerely hoped that the Commonwealth Government 
will prosecute in a liberal and vigorous manner work so well 
begun, as the amount of benefit to be derived (either directly 
or indirectly) from properly carried out Fisheries investiga- 
tion work, is almost incalculable. This has already been 
found to apply in older countries which had already genera- 
tions of knowledge and experience to build upon; and this 
being so, how much more imperative it is for the work to be 
carried on in waters such as our own, where so little has been 
learnt. 
But even if the Commonwealth Government carries out this 
work, and does it in the way hoped for, the separate States 
should not be idle, and each one should have a complete 
staff of scientific workers whose duty it would be to inquire 
into and advise upon fisheries problems generally, and more 
particularly matters with which the individual States are 
