THE RATE OF CONSUMPTION 223 



A general review of the situation with regard to the future 

 production of fish throughout the world leads to the conclusion 

 that a great increase in the yields of the sea-fisheries within easy 

 reach of the centres of dense population is problematic 1 ; although 

 a considerable increase is apparently possible in the production of 

 the more distant fisheries, especially those of the Southern Hemi- 

 sphere. Improvements in the methods of preserving fish and the 

 cheapening of refrigerated transport may make certain quantities 

 of these more distant supplies available where the demand is 

 greatest. On the other hand, the high cost of labour prevailing 

 in the lands adjoining some of these fisheries and the comparative 

 absence of a local market for fish may cause development to be 

 slow. For fresh-water fisheries the outlook is more promising, and 

 considerable increase in production may be expected with the fuller 

 stocking of the numberless streams and lakes of the North Tem- 

 perate Zone. 



1 In the first few years after the close of the war, however, it is probable 

 that the effective supplies of sea-fish can be greatly increased above those of 

 pre-war times. 



