148 FISHERIES OF THE NORTH SEA 



to the Norwegian fisheries off the Lofoten 

 Islands and, instead of fishing themselves, 

 to wait for the Norwegians to bring in the 

 catch, for which they exchange Russian 

 goods. Although at present the inland 

 waterways of Russia are the most important 

 for fishing the rivers of Siberia abound 

 in salmon the possibilities of the Arctic 

 are far greater. The wealth of cod, had- 

 dock, and plaice is inexhaustible, and with 

 proper encouragement the industry is cap- 

 able of vast expansion. When the Hull and 

 Grimsby trawlers started operations on 

 those banks the fish were so thick that 'the 

 fertility of the seabed was insufficient 

 for them and they were half-starved. A 

 trawler could catch 100 tons in two or three 

 days, and, after the ground had been 

 trawled over, the fish improved wonder- 

 fully in a short time. Instead of encourag- 

 ing the landing of these huge quantities at 

 Archangel the Russian Government trebled 

 the international three-mile limit, and did 

 their utmost to stop operations. 



The value of the fisheries of Russia 

 before the war was about 8,000,000, in- 

 cluding the river fisheries of sturgeon and 



