158 SEA FISHERIES 



advantage of the movements of the cod as they gather 

 off the Hebrides, the Butt of Lewis, and the North 

 Minch. " In 1894," says M. Canu, " thanks to the 

 translation of a report on the cruise of the Dutch guard- 

 ship, the Zeehoud, I became aware of the custom of the 

 Dutch herring-fishers of opening their season at Storno- 

 way. By the very nature of my duties " (M. Canu being 

 then Director of the station aquicole of Boulogne) " I was 

 obliged to keep an eye year by year on the success of 

 this Dutch fishery in the Hebrides, in order to report it to 

 our French fishermen and convince them of its value. . . . 

 In 1897 a Boulogne master-fisherman (patron de peche) 

 sampled the cod-fishing at sea off the Hebrides, working 

 towards the south, before the opening of the usual fishery 

 to the west of the Shetlands, and Foula and Fair Island. 

 This attempt miscarried, owing to a lack of technical 

 data relating to the sequence of the cod and herring 

 fishery of Stornoway. In 1898 the same man made a 

 second attempt, and this time followed the methods 

 employed by the Dutch ; the result being a remarkable 

 success in the mixed fishery of cod and herring. If this 

 success is maintained our herring ports will certainly 

 despatch their fleets for a new season of mixed fishery in 

 the Hebrides." * 



III 



Your fishery charts, more than one sceptic will cry, are 

 doubtless an excellent reform ; but it would be as well if 



1 The "prime" herring fishery in the North Sea commences in 

 early summer. 



" France has lately established a cod fishery in the Hebrides, but 

 there does not seem to be any great movement among our ship- 

 owners. . . . The fishermen of Gravelines, who are the only men to 

 fish in these waters, now usually frequent the Shetlands, and a few the 

 Orkneys." (Central Committee of Shipowners' Circular, June 10, 1903.) 



This abstention is largely due to lack of information. 



