VALUE OF FISHERIES 59 



annum in the North Sea area alone. 1 Dog- 

 fish are now, owing to the war, used ex- 

 tensively as food, and are found to be a 

 useful substitute for other fish at present 

 unprocurable. Fishermen are pursuing 

 these fish with profit ; a bonus granted 

 by the Government on the landings would 

 be a great inducement for them to con- 

 tinue and to increase this fishing. The 

 myriads of gulls which live on the small 

 inshore fish are also much more destructive 

 than people imagine, the amount of young 

 fish they consume is surprising; yet owing 

 to their picturesque appearance on the 

 coast every marine artist considers his 

 pictures unfinished until a few of these are 

 painted in the background they have the 

 protection of the Wild Birds Act ; perhaps 

 rightly so. 



Although the amount of fish caught in 

 the North Sea has continuously increased 

 since the introduction of steam, it is un- 

 deniable that the amount of fish left on 



1 This amount is perhaps exceeded in some of the Canadian 

 banks. It is estimated that seals consume many million 

 tons of fish per annum in the North Pacific. In the St. 

 Lawrence Gulf, porpoises destroy far more fish than are landed 

 by the fishermen. 



