COUNCIL - APRIL 1912 — APPENDIX D — 78 — 



percentage of small haddock varied greatly for the respective years of the period 

 in question. 



The increase and decrease of the average total catch depended on the size 

 of the catch of haddock. In the south western part of the North Sea the average 

 daily catch is on the increase, the reverse being the case in the north. 



Prof. D'Arcy Thompson gave also further comparisons of each two consecutive 

 years as regards the increase and decrease in the catch of haddock in various 

 zones of the North Sea, and compared the catch of large haddock with that of 

 the small. 



Dr. Hjort made mention of the remarkably heavy catches of young cod off 

 the northern coast of Norway during the year 1909, and the large number of 

 spawning cod taken in the spring of 1912, which facts in all probability stood in 

 some relation to each other. 



Dr. Heincke asked, whether the increase and decrease in the total catch 

 were entirely dependent on the corresponding increase and decrease in the numbers 

 of small fish. 



Prof. D'Arcy Thompson stated that he did not believe the two lines always 

 ran exactly parallel ; Ihis would, however, require special investigation. 



Sixth Sitting: Thursday 25th April 1912, 3 p.m. 



Chairmann : Prof. Heincke. 



(Agenda d.) 



Dr. Sandman gave a lecture on the destruction of seals in Finland, the 

 methods employed, and the results of the Premium System during the last three 

 years (see Appendix H p. 124). 



Dr. Johansen asked, which fish were chiefly sought after by the seals as 

 food in the Finnish waters. He remarked, that Phoca Groenlandica was not 

 found in the Baltic, and that Halichoerus gryphus had been common in Danish 

 waters in the Stone Age, as was proved by the kitchen middens, but that this 

 species, as being the larger, probably fell an easier prey than the Phoca foetida. 



Dr. Sandman replied, that the food of the Phoca foetica consisted chiefly of 

 herrings, in winter even to a great extent of Idotea entomon, probably owing to 

 the fact that they were at this period of the year hampered by their young lying 

 on the ice and unable to seek their food farther afield. The Halichoerus also 



