_ 7 — APPENDIX K: KYLE 



on the shallow flats of both seas. And it is the medium-sized plaice, which constitute the 

 staple support of the plaice fisheries in both the North Sea and the Kattegat. 



In contradistinction to the "accumulated stock", which consists of large fish, it is 

 convenient to call the medium-sized fish the "current stock", whilst those under the 

 general marketable size may be called simply "undersized fish". The problem for the 

 North Sea and Kattegat, so far as it concerns the plaice, is centered round the current 

 stock; further explanation of this term may be postponed until the present condition of the 

 plaice fishery in the Kattegat has been described. 



B. THE PLAICE FISHERIES OF THE KATTEGAT 



The plaice fishery, which is by far the most important fishery in ihe Kattegat, is 

 carried on (i) by steam trawlers of English and German nationality, (2) by the Danes, 

 (3) by the Swedes. Information concerning the quantities taken by the first is absolutely 

 wanting, but we can safely say that they, have fished in the Kattegat more since 1890 

 than in the years preceding. 



With regard to the Danish and Swedish plaice fishery, very complete information is 

 to be found in the various reports already named in the first part of this work, and a 

 valuable picture can therewith be obtained of a fishery, which has been entirely dependent 

 on the "current stock" for a period of at least twelve years, and shows as yet no signs 

 of exhaustion. 



As the Danish fishery is of greater importance than any other we shall begin with 

 it, but first of all, it is necessary to say a few words concerning the physical and 

 geographical conditions in the Kattegat. 



As is well-known, the Kattegat is the meeting place of two large expanses of water 

 of very different character. On the one side, is the Baltic with its low salinity or com- 

 paratively speaking fresh water, on the other, is the Skager Rak and North Sea with a 

 relatively high salinity. The nature of the Kattegat water depends upon these two influ- 

 ences, but as it lies more open to the Skager Rak, it has on the whole more of the 

 characteristics of the latter. The Baltic stream and the currents from the Skager Rak 

 are, however, in constant conflict and the range or area, over which the conflict is waged, 

 varies greatly in different seasons and different years. In short, the physical character- 

 istics of the Kattegat, the direction and strength of its many currents, both on and below 

 the surface, and so on, are very variable. Without entering into details, it may be said 

 that these variable physical conditions must have a profound influence on the distribution 

 of the young of fishes, such as the plaice. In some years, the pelagic young may be 

 carried into the Baltic or on the other hand into the Skager Rak, more than in other 

 years. It is probable, therefore, that the abundance of the adult plaice is aff'ected in this 

 way over the whole Kattegat, and the fluctuations in the abundance might even show 

 themselves in the statistics of the annual quantities taken by the fishermen. 



The boundaries of the Kattegat employed here, are the same as those used by 



