MARINE BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION 71 



and it is gratifying to find that the Select Committee 

 of 1893 extended its recognition to the 'facts and 

 statistics ' submitted by the Scotch Fishery Board 

 and by the Association. In the summer of 1902 the 

 Association, at the request of the Government, under- 

 took to carry out the English portion of the Inter- 

 national Investigation of the North Sea. The scope 

 of this inquiry is immense ; and its importance to the 

 largest fisheries available for our fishermen is incal- 

 culable. Some idea of the kind of work accomplished 

 has been furnished in the preceding pages. 



What now seems to be most required, in addition to 

 the maintenance of the work already in progress, is a 

 closer co-operation of these various bodies with one 

 another and with the central authority now estab- 

 lished under the President of the Board of Agriculture 

 and Fisheries. The outlines of some such scheme 

 seem plainly indicated by the existing constitution of 

 these various bodies. The Fisheries Department is 

 responsible for administration, statistics, and general 

 advice to the President of the Board on fishery 

 matters. The Marine Biological Association under- 

 takes general marine investigations of a national as 

 distinct from a local character, as well as such local 

 investigations and experiments as can conveniently 

 be carried out at its laboratories. The Sea-fishery 

 Committees need additional powers to enable them 

 to carry out local scientific investigations more fully 

 in their respective areas. Perhaps an annual con- 

 ference between the representatives and experts of 

 these bodies and the officials of the Fishery Depart- 

 ment, for the express purpose of drawing up plans of 

 work for the ensuing year, would, in the first instance, 

 be the best means of leading up to more intimate 

 co-operation and organization. 



The Reports on the North Sea Investigation so far 

 published deal only with the work of the earlier years 



