58 FISHERIES OF THE NORTH SEA 



always fish, and the danger is less ; 

 trawling requires no bait, and if fish 

 are not in abundance in one quarter the 

 ship can steam hundreds of miles to 

 another spot. 



Another way of improving the supply 

 is to reduce the quantities of por- 

 poises and dogfish : these do incredible 

 damage. A bonus paid to the fisher- 

 men on the weight of these creatures 

 captured would go a long way towards 

 destroying them. To support its pon- 

 derous body a porpoise consumes 

 about 100 tons of fish per annum, the 

 value of which, at a low estimate, 

 would be a thousand pounds. By syste- 

 matic extermination of these creatures 

 millions of pounds might be saved annually, 

 besides which their carcases, when con- 

 centrated, would provide a good cattle 

 food as well as a valuable oil. These 

 remarks also apply to the seal, which, 

 though more useful for commercial pur- 

 poses, is equally destructive. It is probable 

 that voracious fish of little or no edible 

 value account for the destruction of 

 10,000,000 of our best mature fish per 



