102 SEA FISHERIES 



fathers followed the example of their ancestors. And 

 sooner or later the little bay has grown empty of 

 fish. Then the large bay, the distant gulf have been 

 exploited, and they also show signs of exhaustion. Any 

 fisherman will tell you the same thing : " Twenty 

 years ago we could catch all the fish we wanted, but 

 now the turbots and soles have disappeared ! " And 

 the depopulation of the fishing-grounds already assumes 

 the aspect of a social and economic phenomenon, as 

 a consequence of the law of the least effort. 



I 



As long ago as 1880 M. Bouchon-Brandely declared 

 that the impoverishment of the shores of the Mediter- 

 ranean was an undeniable fact. Shortly afterwards 

 MM. Roy de Lonlay and de Lorgeril made the same 

 assertion in respect of the Channel. Four years later 

 the " Statistics of Maritime Fisheries " made the follow- 

 ing statement : " In the neighbourhood of Roscoff the 

 disappearance of large fish, rays, congers, &c., continues, 

 as does that of the crustaceans. In the neighbourhood 

 of Marennes the larger fish, which left our coast waters 

 years ago, are keeping to the open sea, in depths of 

 35 to 50 fathoms. The fishery there is productive, 

 and also has the advantage of not being destructive, 

 as are the fisheries pursued close inshore. In the 

 neighbourhood of Dax the hake fishery, which is the 

 principal industry of Cap Breton, has been particularly 

 disastrous, the fish persistently and increasingly deserting 

 the coast, and the fishermen being without the means of 

 going in search of them in the deep bottoms. In the 

 neighbourhood of Port-Vendres the rarity of the prin- 

 cipal species of fish has forced the fishermen to apply 

 themselves in a more constant fashion to a languishing 



