378 



NATURE 



[July io, 1919 



sudden changes in the methods of capture; and in 

 deciding as to the value of sea-fish hatcheries? The 

 expenditure of more than 100,000/. by this country 

 alone has not enabled the Council to grapple with 

 the constantly recurring complaint about the decadence 

 of the sea-fisheries, or to fulfil the promises which 

 heralded its appointment ; yet the expenditure con- 

 tinues, and, to judge by the character of the pub- 

 lications forthcoming, the fundamental facts required 

 are still in abeyance, though, it is true, the im- 

 poverishment of the sea is now seldom mentioned, 

 whilst the facts in relation to the soundness of the 

 views in "ITie Resources of the Sea" have been 

 augmented. That at least is a gain. 



The foregoing views as to the safety of the sea- 

 fishes of our country have long been held, and from 

 a different .point of view, by such distinguished men as 

 Prof. Huxley, Lord Everslev, and Sir Spencer Wal- 

 pole, besides others of more modern date. Lord 

 Eversley's recent papers are a sufficient answer to 

 those who wrongly asserted that Prof. Huxley, his 

 old colleague, changed his opinions. 



If but a fraction of the great expenditure had been 

 devoted to marine laboratories, where personal con- 

 tact of the workers with the sea and its fisheries 

 would have laid a sure basis for original work in this 

 and cognate departments of marine research, there 

 can be little doubt that* the country would have been 

 better served. It seems a paradox that a Secretary 

 for Scotland, the same who in 1898 refused an offer 

 for the repetition on the same areas of the trawling 

 experiments of 1884, should challenge and withdraw 

 an annual sum of less than 100/. for the upkeep of a 

 marine laboratory where much of the pioneer scientific 

 fishery work in this country was done, and yet coun- 

 tenance this costly international enterprise which has 

 ended in results so uncertain and so disappointing in 

 many respects to the nation, and gave facilities to 

 the Germans for familiarising their seamen with the 

 coasts of the North Sea for other than fishers' work. 



Finally, the day will soon come, if it has not alreadv 

 done so, when such crude notions as to the impoverish- 

 ment of the sea-fisheries will utterly lapse, and, whilst 

 safeguarding the yield of the sea by everv reasonable 

 measure, the authorities and the public will place 

 implicit confidence in the resources of the ocean and 

 the ways of Nature therein ; and these conclusions 

 apply, not only to the North Sea, but also, in the 

 main, to all the great sea-fisheries of the world, includ- 

 ing those of Canada, the Cape, Australia, India, New 

 Zealand, the United States, France, Japan, Russia. 

 Norway, Sweden, and, with modifications, to those of 

 the countries bordering on the Mediterranean. The 

 closure of large areas of the sea rests on no scientific 

 basis, though it may be politic in the interests of 

 certain classes of fishermen ; and there can be no 

 doubt that the public, by such closure, is deprived 

 of a large and perennial supply of fishes of easv 

 capture — for instance, from the Moray Frith. If a 

 small bar like that of St. Andrews can defv fhe local 

 and immigrant fishing-vessels of all kinds,' and hold 

 its own even on a narrow strip, what permanent effect 

 can the mere scraping of about three-fourths of the 

 North Sea (Morav Frith included), with its 140,000 

 square miles, a few times a year have on its fish- 

 fauna, especiallv when it has a considerable area of 

 untrawlable ground, not to allude to the belt within 

 the three-mile limit, or to the vast increment of voung 

 fishes it receives from the north, and more ^paringlv 

 from the south? The stabilitv of "The Resources 

 of the Sea " as regards food-fishes does not rest on a 

 single fact, but on all the facts, and on an unbroken 

 chain from the simplest plants and animals through 

 all the various grades up to the food-fishes ; and this 

 stability remains unshaken after the efforts of the 



NO. 2593, VOL. 103] 



International Council and its investigators, some of 

 whom still continue to pin their faith to the mechanical 

 manipulation of statistics of the catches at various ports. 



What was said in 1907" has additional force to-day, 

 viz. it is indeed fortunate for this and other nations 

 that the unbroken chain of circumstances combines 

 to render the sea-fishes so capable of holding their 

 own, not only in former geological periods, when, 

 for instance, the gigantic fish-eating Ichthyosauria 

 traversed the seas from pole to pole, but also to-day. 

 P'or what alternatives are before us? 



Artificial hatching, while admirable in fresh-water 

 and anadromous fishes, has not been proved (and this 

 is said with all deference to the efforts of the Ameri- 

 cans, our own countrymen, and others) to be of actual 

 service in marine fishes, the young of which are every- 

 where so numerous. Besides, the heavy expenditure 

 would ill be borne by the taxpayers when the foreign 

 fishermen share equally with their own. 



Transplantation could readily be carried out, 

 especiallv with flat-fishes, though under the same 

 international disadvantages; yet Nature in the open 

 waters needs little aid in this respect. 



More might be said in favour of a size-limit, but 

 that more has much of sentiment in it; for whilst the 

 ordinary fisherman dare not sell his small fishes, and 

 could not eat them, many — indeed, almost all those 

 hooked, and a larger or smaller proportion in the trawl 

 — would perish. But what would the Legislature 

 make of the destructive shrimper, who cares neither to 

 sell nor to eat the smill fishes ? Moreover, it is hollow 

 legislation which imposes a penalty in the case of 

 small flat-fishes, and is purblind to the destruction of 

 small round-fishes. 



To him who revives and nurses the barren fears 

 and doubts of many centuries, and to the disciple of 

 "The Impoverishment of the Sea," there is thus little 

 comfort in the sound of alternatives. 



On the other hand, the plenitude and the endurance 

 of the sea-fishes are marvellous, yet true. Nature 

 is even prodigal in their vast abundance and variety. 

 Indeed, it is bv no means certain whether the com- 

 bined destruction caused bv invertebrate marine 

 animals, from the democratic jelly-fish (Pleurobrachia) 

 to the predatory cuttle-fish ; by the food-fishes them- 

 selves, manv eating their smaller brethren or the 

 voung of their neighbours, even the herring swallow- 

 ing dozens of the floating eggs of the white fishes 

 with its food ; by voracious fishes like sharks, dog- 

 fishes, and skate; by the vast army of piscivorous birds ; 

 bv the multitude of whales, single and social ; and by 

 the seals — T repeat, it is by no means certain whether 

 this combined destruction does not equal, if not 

 exceed, in numbers at least, that of man himself. 



Let us then be chan- of futile international or other 

 expenditure in search of a phantom, but at once 

 organise the scientific staff of each centre of the 

 kingdom on a modern (i.e. apart from agriculture), 

 effective, yet not costly footing, and,- whilst vigilant 

 in tjuarding the national trust and in checking any 

 avoidable waste of fish-life, let every well-conducted 

 method oT capturing the sea-fishes be free from un- 

 necessary restrictions. The unparalleled services of 

 both liners and trawlers to the country during the 

 late crisis merit no less. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Birmingham. — The following degrees in science have 

 been awarded : — Doctor of Science : J. E. Coates, 

 C. K. Brain. Blanche Muriel Bristol, Nellie Carter, 

 Alfred John Grove. Leslie Herbert Lampitt, and C. M. 

 Walter. Master of Science : Daisy Louisa Ibbs, 



■•i Lecture II., Royal Institution, p. ig. 



