158 FISHERIES OF THE NORTH SEA 



protect the fish, a lean season as the result 

 of overfishing will recur every four years. 

 If the British Columbian Government suc- 

 ceed in agreeing with the United States 

 on joint action in closing fishing operations 

 when the next lean year occurs, which will 

 be in 1920, the breeding grounds will 

 again be abundantly spawned, and instead 

 of the lean year recurring again in 1924 

 the fishing will then be as successful as in 

 the great years. The Government warned 

 the fishermen that owing to the shortage 

 of fish left to spawn in 1912 the season of 

 1916 would be again a lean one, and this 

 prophecy was well justified ; for 1916 

 would have been a failure were it not for 

 the great increase in values occasioned by 

 the war. The output of the United States 

 packers has in an average lean season 

 totalled only 300,000, whereas in an 

 average season of plenty the value was 

 2,250,000. Thus, if in the next lean 

 season the fisheries will close down they 

 will lose 300,000 in landings, but they 

 will save, by transferring say the next four 

 lean seasons into a successful fishing, fish 

 to the value of 6,000,000, and the 



