CORMORANT AND OTHER|DIVERS 43 



the coast must of necessity damage our fisheries. 

 In the estuaries of rivers divers are a distinct 

 menace, and in confined waters, if unmolested, 

 they will rapidly destroy the best fishing. 



In 1919 I spent a few weeks on the Cornish 

 coast after six years' absence, and was very much 

 struck by the enormous increase in the numbers 

 of shags and cormorants. Off Land's End and 

 Sennen every rock was crowded with these 

 birds. On inquiry I found that the shilling 

 reward offered for each shag or cormorant had 

 been stopped in order to effect economy. While 

 millions were being wasted, a few hundreds a 

 year were saved, with the result that at the 

 present time there is an ever-increasing destruc- 

 tion of edible fish, the value of which can be 

 estimated at many thousands of pounds. It is 

 to be hoped that the Fishery Boards in these 

 areas will now reconsider their short-sighted 

 policy. 



