xiv THE SEA FISHERIES 



famine. It may perhaps be necessary to explain here that in the 

 main the great Scottish drift-net fisheries for herring depend on an 

 export trade in cured fish, whereas the great English trawl fisheries 

 depend on the sale of fresh fish in the home markets. 



On the whole one may anticipate a rapid recovery and a return 

 to normal conditions in British sea fishery affairs within a reasonable, 

 if at present indefinite, time. 



The closure of certain grounds to fishing as a measure of naval 

 precaution will naturally lead to abnormal statistical returns for 

 some time after the war is over, and the loss of trawlers and drifters 

 in the operations of war wiU prove another disturbing factor. 

 The statistics for 1914-19 and possibly for a year or so afterwards 

 are therefore not useful for comparison with previous years, save as 

 a measure of the loss to the trade as a result of the war, and in the 

 arguments set out in the succeeding chapters no account is taken 

 of any figures subsequent to 1913. 



It is to be expected that the old ante-war problems which vexed 

 the fishery world will speedily recur, possibly in an accentuated 

 form. What these problems are, how they have arisen, and the 

 best means of grappling with them are dealt with in the following 

 pages. The opinions set forth wiU probably be considered unor- 

 thodox. For them the author must accept the sole responsibility. 

 The facts on which they are based have been verified carefully, 

 but should be checked whenever possible by reference to the official 

 and other returns. The administration of the sea fisheries is not 

 quite so simple as may be thought, and in spite of the expressed 

 opinion of the Minister who was responsible to Parliament for the 

 fisheries of England and Wales so recently as 1912, ignorance of 

 the subject does not, any more than it does in any other subject, 

 confer any special advantage on those responsible for the adminis- 

 tration. In the case of shore-going industrial concerns, such as a 

 cotton mill or a coal mine, the test of efiiciency may be to obtain 

 the greatest output and the largest profit with the least expenditure 

 of time, money and labour. But the sea fisheries are hardly on the 

 same level. The maximum productivity with the minimum of 

 workers may not be the ideal policy, even for immediate pur- 

 poses ; and no one can complain that the tendency of modern 

 administration is to consider anything beyond immediate neces- 

 sities. 



In an industry where man reaps but does not sow, the question 

 of the future supply ought always to be present, and to what extent 

 this question has already forced its way to the front will be seen in 

 the following chapters. Moreover, although one does not wish to 

 deprecate the cry of the cheapest food for the greatest number, it 



