COMMITTEE B — DECEMBER 1903 { 14) 
essentially the same in the southern part of the North Sea, where the chief 
rearing grounds for plaice were well-known. This year the plaice landed from the 
North Sea in the English ports had been unusually free from small fish, whereas 
last year there was an exceptional abundance of the latter. It was very probable, 
therefore, that fluctuations in the abundance of North Sea plaice could be traced 
to their natural causes if they made adequate arrangements, which would involve 
uniformity of apparatus and periodic investigation of particular grounds. These 
investigations would not solve, but they would contribute in an important manner 
to the solution of the theoretical problem of over-fishing, by showing the extent 
to which natural causes were responsible for fluctuations in the yield of fish. He 
put forward these considerations to strengthen his request for uniformity in fishing 
operations and for the periodic investigation of fixed stations. 
(8) The quantitative investigation of the distribution of fish eggs was beset 
with many difficulties, but the Committee had previously agreed upon the desira- 
bility of beginning such work with regard to the eggs of the common Sole, which 
were more more easily identified with certainty than those of other useful species. 
Were the members of the Committee prepared to begin this work on a co-operative 
basis during the coming year? 
(9) With regard to the next point, the time seemed to have arrived when 
the Committee, after the experiepce of a year’s working, should classify the pro- 
blems referred to them and arrange the order in which they were to receive par- 
ticular attention. The participation of several Governments was provisionally limited 
to a very short term of years. Time was passing, and much depended on the 
attainment of definite achievements during the limited term. 
It seemed to him that the problems before them fell into two classes: 
(1) those requiring continued observations over the longer period specified in the 
Christiania Programme, viz., questions as to the nature and causes of fluctuations 
in the abundance of fish; and (2) specific problems capable of immediate solution. 
For the first group of problems, the Committee could do no more than 
organise their investigations in such a way as to guarantee the attainment of results 
in the early future. But conclusive results on the wider problems of over-fishing 
were incapable of attainment within the three-year period during which they would 
be judged; and it was therefore important for all of them who wished to see a 
successful issue of their labours that they should devote particular attention during 
the next year to those specific problems which were capable of prompt solution. 
Of these the Christiania Programme mentioned (1) charts showing the distribution of 
fish over the area in general (2) experiments concerning the vitality of trawl-caught 
