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youngest stages of the various food fishes. At the commencement of the 

 Internationa] Investigations, our information as !to the eggs, larvae, youn^ 

 stages, etc., of even the most important North Sea fish was still very in- 

 complete ; this has, however, during the last few years developed into a very 

 profound knowledge. This has rendered it possible to compare and closely 

 study the great variations which appear from year to year in the numbers of 

 the youngest stages. Although no true understanding has yet been arrived at 

 as to the great natural phenomena which can cause so important changes in 

 the increase of young fish from year to year, we have yet to reckon with the 

 fact of these great variations, which led to the investigation of the question 

 as to how far any means might be found to influence the increase in the 

 younger stages. Should the method frequently employed of late years, i. e., 

 the increasing of the stock of young fish by means of artificial fish culture, 

 be applied here, or would it be better to protect the smaller sizes of fish 

 found in their natural state in the sea? As regards the first method, there 

 does not appear to be any proof |as yet of the increase of a local fish stock 

 by artificial culture of sea fish ; in consideration, however, of the importance 

 and difficulty of the problem, continued investigations in suitable areas are 

 yet desirable. And with regard to the question as to how far the younger 

 stages of the economically important cod and allied species required protection 

 from the present intensive fishery, the investigations arrived at the conclusion 

 that while the stock of cod appears to have retained its original character up 

 to now, repeated instances have been brought forward of a decrease in numbers, 

 both absolute and relative, of the larger sizes of haddock. These investigations 

 tend to show that the annual increase is unfavourably influenced by the 

 capture of small haddock before they have reached such size as to be of any 

 considerable value, and that on the other hand, the protection of such young 

 fish could only be advantageous to the industry. 



That which is true of one migrating species, however, is not necessarily 

 applicable to another, even though the two species may be related. We may 

 even go so far as to say, that what is true of fish of a certain species inhab- 

 iting one region of the sea need not necessarily be true of such of the same species 

 as have their habitat in another. The study of migrating fish has demonstrated 

 the necessity of resuming the racial investigation of fish. While the cod of 

 the southern North Sea appear to be in every way a stationary fish, while those 

 of Lofoten are distinctly migratory, and when marking experiments have 

 shown that the cod in Icelandic waters can undertake migrations of great 

 extent, it is reasonable to suppose that we have here to deal with fish of 



