12 PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION 



are crowded the fine and powerful steam trawlers that 

 ply to the distant fishing-grounds, while Lowestoft 

 harbour is full of graceful sailing vessels. The former 

 are devoted to ocean fishery on the grand scale ; they 

 work for the people of the Black Country, while the 

 latter net the soles and " prime fish " of the North Sea 

 for the tables of the wealthy. Aberdeen possesses not 

 only a fleet of magnificent steam drifters, but sailing 

 vessels as well. There is room for vessels of all classes 

 in a harmonious whole. 



The means are varied and the methods flexible. 

 English shipowners have grasped the fact that eternal 

 fertility cannot be expected of the same fishing-grounds. 

 They have left the beaten paths in search of new 

 pastures, and have found them. They ply the otter- 

 trawl on the banks of Iceland ; they trawl the almost 

 virgin depths of the White Sea 1 ; they send their trawlers 

 along the West Coast of Africa ; in short, by continually 

 extending their maritime domain they are able to give 

 exhausted grounds the time necessary to their recovery ; 

 this bank recovers itself while that is newly exploited ; 

 then the latter is left in repose and the former resumed. 



This method of alternate exploitation, which I have 

 expounded in the following pages, constitutes the best 

 means of ensuring a regular and constant supply. This 

 is its least advantage ; for, thanks to the elasticity of this 

 supply, the method provokes the equipment of an ever- 

 increasing number of vessels, which bring to port ever- 

 increasing quantities of fish. The total catch of the 

 fishermen of the British Isles amounts to 958,000 tons, 



1 The Russian Government, by claiming a nine-mile territorial 

 limit, has this year claimed the right to close the White Sea. There 

 are, however, other excellent fishing-grounds in the Arctic Ocean. 

 TRANS. 



