86 FISHERIES OF THE NORTH SEA 



such possibilities. All progress depends 

 upon the intelligence and co-operation of 

 those who take part in bringing these vast 

 resources of nature to the utility of man. 

 In the past the wastage has been phe- 

 nomenal, the distribution and transporta- 

 tion defective. Nature was too generous, 

 and in the early days the fisherman was 

 easily contented, he would take just those 

 kinds that would find a ready sale and 

 fling the rest back dead. The North Sea 

 banks have been almost ruined of flat fish 

 by the murder of immature specimens. 

 It remains for future workers to organize 

 the industry with some semblance of 

 intelligence. So inarticulate have the pro- 

 ducers and distributors been through dis- 

 organization and discord, that at the 

 present time, with these abounding supplies 

 of food surrounding our islands, the popula- 

 tion of Britain does not spend individually 

 los. per annum on what everybody agrees 

 is one of the finest of foods. This is not 

 entirely the fault of the English people; much 

 of it is the fault of the industry ; many of 

 the methods, especially of distribution, are 

 inadequate and inefficient. In many of 



