FACTORS OF DESTRUCTION IDS 



industry. In the neighbourhood of Nice fish of the 

 sedentary species are becoming more and more rare. 

 In the neighbourhood of Rogliono and Bastia the 

 ' syndicate ' of Calvi, whose members are engaged 

 almost exclusively in the crayfish fishery, have suffered 

 more than most, so much so that twenty of them 

 have given up their calling and have obtained work 

 on the mail-steamers. The falling-off in the yield of 

 the crayfish and lobster fisheries may be attributed 

 to the rarity of these Crustacea in the neighbourhood 

 of Cape Corso." " In Newfoundland," writes M. 

 Busson, " the methods of the English have so greatly 

 diminished the abundance of the cod that the Govern- 

 ment of St. John is to-day meditating the foundation 

 of a centre of pisciculture for this fish." 



In the Golfe du Lion the yield per kilometre of coast 

 has fallen in twenty-four years (1880-1904) from 925 

 kilogrammes to 270 ; along the Provenal coast, from 

 528 to 489. The North Sea is also becoming less thickly 

 inhabited, as a commission of inquiry appointed by 

 the British Government has plainly demonstrated. Of 

 twenty species of fish examined, one only the haddock 

 is not diminishing ; in 1906 the daily captures were 

 830 Ibs. ; in the case of other species the decrease is 

 constant. Here are some significant figures : 



1903. 1906. 



Tons. Tons. 



Turbot 3,250 2,600 



Sole 1,700 1,100 



Ray 7,000 5,400 



Plaice 40,000 22,000 



In the same lapse of time the yield of flounders decreased 

 from 155 kilogrammes per diem to 105 (342 Ibs. to 231 Ibs.). 



The dearth of fish has naturally led to a dearth of 

 fishermen. In 1903 the work effected by the total 



