— 23 — COUNCIL — MARS:1920 



Professor Pettersson stated that Sweden was willing to adhere to the prin- 

 ciple of 5 years. 



Point 6 and 7 of the Agenda (continued). Mr. Maurice thought the proposal 

 he had made under this head regarding reporting on the Plaice and Herring questions 

 had practically been met by a counter proposition of Dr. Hjort, i. e., that the 

 countries which took the lead in any special research should also take responsibility 

 for the reporting of progress. Only two items were really concerned — the Herring 

 programme, for which Norway had taken the responsibility, and the Plaice pro- 

 gramme, for which Great Britain was prepared to be responsible. Mr. Maurice^s 

 motive in making the suggestion was the desire that it should be someone's duty 

 to secure that the various countries taking part in the programme should keep 

 their work up 'to date. And he proposed that Mr. Borley should act as reporter 

 for the Plaice question, keeping in communication with other countries, especially 

 Holland and Denmark, and inviting them to state, say once in three months, what 

 progress had been made with the programme. 



It was agreed that Mr. Borley should be Reporter for the Plaice question,- 

 and Mr. Lea for the Herring question. 



Point 4e of the Agenda (Nomination of the Members of the Bu- 

 reau, etc.) 



M. Kerzoncuf said: Monsieur Pettersson m'assure qu'il a l'intention 

 d'abandonner la présidence de ce Conseil. Je le regrette infiniment, mais il 

 m'assure que son décision est irrévocable. Il ne peut pas rester. Dans ces circon- 

 stances nous proposons de nommer comme Président Mr. Maurice, qui a les 

 qualités nécessaires et qui a gagné l'estime de ses collègues. J'ai l'honneur de vous 

 proposer l'élection de Mr. Maurice. (Applause.) 



Dr. Hjort seconded the election of Mr. Maurice and said: When the war 

 broke out little more hope seemed left to this International Council than that 

 it might survive the great world conflagration. Great was our surprise and admira- 

 tion, therefore, when we learnt that Great Britain not only would contribute to 

 fulfil what perhaps might be regarded as old obligations, but that even new inve- 

 stigations were to be undertaken. We have during this Meeting seen reports made 

 of scientific work from Great Britain and from Canada in the most difficult cir- 

 cumstances. 



For us, who through twenty years have been trying to develop this co-opera- 

 tion and who have sometimes doubted- whether some of the ideas underlying the 

 work would ever be put on a firm and exact -basis, it is a source of the greatest 

 pleasure that the extraordinary circumstances of the war, which gave experimental 

 proof of the influence of the fisheries on the stock of certain fish, have not been 

 lost but taken advantage of to the benefit of science for many years to come. We 

 all know how much this is due to our colleague, Mr. Maurice, to the great belief 

 he has shown in science and in the aims of the International Council. 



