THE PROBLEM 9 



struct! on comes. It is difficult to prophesy 

 the future, but it is apparent that of all 

 British food industries the fisheries are in 

 the enviable position of having received 

 the least permanent damage by the war, in 

 spite of the fact that fishing operations 

 have been almost suspended. The old 

 fears of depletion of our home fisheries 

 are silenced, and, when the time comes, it 

 will be of exceptional interest to see how 

 far the fertility of the seabed has re- 

 covered and how long the recovery will 

 last. Many important facts bearing on 

 this question will be settled, and these 

 facts should supply much data for future 

 legislation for protecting the fisheries from 

 wasteful exploitation. 



The war has given abundant proof that 

 the importance of our fisheries is not only 

 economic, but is also of supreme value in 

 times of national danger. Over two 

 thousand fishing trawlers and drifters have 

 been mobilized into an auxiliary navy. 

 The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries 

 state : " The importance of the British 

 fishing industry has been demonstrated 

 by the war. It is, in effect, a subsidiary 



