124 



MINUTES OF E\-1DEXCE TAKEN BEFORE THE 



17 March 1904.] 



Mr. Garstang. 



[Coniioiued. 



Chairman — continued. 



same resuU, as is shown in that Report o^ 

 Committee B at Amsterdam, was obtamed b}' 

 the Danish naturahsts ; they found the same 

 intensit}' of fishing on the Danish coast. 



Marquess of Abercorn. 



2252. What mark do you put upon it ? — 

 Quite a thin brass label, turned up at the edge 

 to prevent the edge cutting into the skin, and 

 fastened to the upper edge of the body by a 

 short silver wire, mth a bone button underneath. 

 If t]iis represents the fish we make a small hole 

 ■with an instrument, just like making a hole in a 

 woman's ear for an earring, and put a piece of 

 silver wire through, with a bone button under- 

 neath and a little brass numbered disc on the 

 top ; the wire is turned down and the fish thrown 

 overboard. 



Chairman. 



2253. Then you offer a reward ? — Yes, we offer 

 a reward and notice is advertised in the 

 fishermen's almanacks and elsewhere, and we 

 think not many have escaped us. 



2254. I suppose you average the sizes, do you 

 not, according to the numbers that you catch ? 

 — We average the sizes. We mark small fishes, 

 and sometimes we mark large fishes. This 

 result that I am giving you is based on a 

 preponderance of small fish. 



2255. On what numbers do you base the 

 averages of the different sizes ; is it on all fish 

 caught ? When you say so man}- over or under 

 twelve inches, on what is that based ? — Those 

 are not averages ; those are actual observations 

 fur each haul of the trawl, if I remember rightly. 

 I have two sets of charts ; on one the actual 

 observations are tabulated, and on the other 

 the mean observations. Certainly in one year 

 the means are based on a small number of 

 hauls. 



2256. You were proceeding to say something 

 about the idea of an international agreement ? — 

 Yes, the reason I Avished to bring this forward 

 is because I believe there is some considerable 

 misapprehension in regard to the views of the 

 Oerman authorities as regards the desirability 

 of legislation. I believe this has been mentioned 

 in evidence before the Connnittee. I remember 

 a few years ago the point was also raised that 

 the German authorities are averse to any re- 

 strictive regulations upon their fisheries, and a 

 reference was made to the remarks of President 

 Herwig, the President of the German Sea 

 Fisheries Association, at the conference, I think 

 it was at Bremen, some 10 or 15 years ago, in 

 which he expressed the prevalent views in 

 Germany, that their chief desire was to develop 

 their trawling fleets, and that they were not 

 prepared to consider restrictive legislation 

 which would in any wa}"^ impede them from 

 developing those fleets. I merely wish to draw 

 the attention of the Committee to the fact that 

 those remarks were made at a time when the 

 German trawling fleet was in its infancy, and 

 before they liad had much experience of 

 trawling. 



2237. What date was that ? — I forget. I think 

 it WHS in IsltO. Of course during that time the}' 



Cha irman — continued. 

 were very active building steam trawlers, and 

 they have now about 130. They had not then 

 experienced what has been experienced in 

 England ; that is to say, this progressive 

 decline in the average catch owing to the 

 great multiplication of vessels. I therefore 

 wish to draw attention to the views of the Ger- 

 mans, as modified by recent experience. In the 

 sheets which I have already submitted to your 

 Lordship, dealing with Professor Henking's 

 paper, I have translated some remarks of his 

 which were based on an analysis of the statistics 

 of the landings of German steam trawlers for a 

 term of years. I have the original paper here, 

 but the extracts which I have iDefore me 1 think 

 are sufiicient for my purpose. Doctor Henking, 

 in the first place, is referring to a paper of my 

 own published in the previous year, which was 

 entitled " The Impoverishment of the Sea," in 

 which I dealt with the statistical aspects of this 

 problem ; and with regard to that paper he goes 

 on to say : " Concerning the results of the trawl 

 fishery of Great Britain, it can no longer be 

 doubted that a constant diminution in the pro- 

 ducts of the fishery in question has taken place 

 during the last decade " ; and then he goes on to 

 say : " The results of the Geestemiinde statistics 

 render it possible to corroborate this observation 

 of a fall in the catch. We obtain the following 

 averages for the five years available for conside- 

 ration " ; and your Lordship will observe that 

 he gives there a series of figures showing what is 

 the average catch per day of the German steam 

 trawlers for a term of five years. In 1893 the 

 average catch was 1,978 lbs. per day ; in 1894, 

 2,252 lbs. ; and then from that year onwards it 

 steadily decreased. In 1895 it was 2,225 lbs. ; in 

 1 896, 1,914 lbs. ; and in 1897, 1,641 lbs. 



2258. That is, I suppose, from vessels fishing 

 practically on the same grounds from year to 

 year ? — The fishing grounds are described in a 

 chart in the paper. 



2259. I mean that those fishing grounds have 

 not extended in the way that otir trawlers have 

 extended theirs ? — Yes ; he admits that steam 

 trawlers are incessantly tending to go further 

 and further north. But these figures are figures 

 for the North Sea fishing grounds alone ; they 

 do not include any Iceland catches. So that 

 the observations are very pertinent ; they show 

 that in 1900 the Germans for the first time 

 experienced the fact that the catches of steam 

 trawlers were going down from year to year. And 

 thus Dr. Henking, who occupies a very respon- 

 sible position in Germany in connection with 

 the German Sea Fisheries Association, goes on 

 to say : " The reduction in the catch has con- 

 tinued constantly since 1894, in spite of the fact 

 that a very substantial increase in the catching 

 power took place during 1895 and 1896, when 

 the otter-trawl was brought into use on 

 steam trawlers." He continues : " Although for 

 definite reasons I would prefer to avoid 

 the expression ' over - fishing,' nevertheless 

 there can be no doubt that the rapid 

 diminution in the amount of the catch con- 

 stitutes a serious danger and deserves the 

 most careful roii^i deration." He underlines the 

 words "serious danger." He then go^s on to 



draw 



