SOME OBSERVATIONS ON EUROPEAN FISHERIES 

 AND FISH CULTURE 



i;y men m. smith. 



Deputy U. S. Commissioner of Fisheries 



Murine culture. 



'V\\v ciiltivalioii of iiijn'iiic (isln's in luiropc is on ;t comi),!!';!- 

 tivcly small scale. As it is a fonii of i)is<-iciiltii)v which ])rivat(' 

 ind'viduals arc not willing' to undertake, and as liovcrnnient 

 work of tliis kind is the exception rather than the rule in 

 Europe, l)Ut little attention lias heen uiven to the increase oF 

 strictly salt-water species. Furthermore, there is considerahlc 

 skepticism among biologists and fishery antliorities as to the 

 value of fish culture as applied to the sea, and the limited woi-k 

 now carried on is far from heini;- repii'ded favorahh'. 



The most extensive and celebrated of the European marine 

 fish-cultural establishments is that near Arendal, in southern 

 Xorway. This was started in 188-t under Captain Gr. M. Danne- 

 vig, who was thus a pioneer in practical marine fish culture : 

 this work began in the United States in 1886, and was to a 

 great extent influenced by the Xorwegian methods. T saw 

 manuscri])t letters written by Professor Baird to ('a])tain Danne- 

 vig in l,S84-() asking for ])articulars as to the a])paratus and 

 methods of cod culture. We have now develo])ed other method-- 

 and ap])liances, Init from what I was able to observe T am in- 

 clined to believe that the old Xorwegian nu'thods are decidedly 

 better in some respects. The hatchery o])erations bax'e of late 

 yeai-s heen addressed exclusively to the cod. and ha\-e been quite 

 extensive, the mnnber of fry tui-ned out in the ])ast fifteen 

 years being considei-ably more than o.OOO millions. The hatch- 

 ei'y was originally constructed by the Society for the Promotion 

 of the Xoi'wegian Fisheries, but is now maintained by the 

 gcnt'ral g<i\-ei'nment. which makes an annual grant of 10,(H)() 

 kroner (•$•?,. -)(HI ) . recently reduced to M(M) kroner ($1,875). 



Following are the salient features of Xorwt'gian cod culture: 

 ( 1 ) 'Hie brood hsb ar(> bought frou) the juarket fisbei'men 



*Based (jii ijersoiial imiuirics in !!»iiri. 

 17U 



