264 TEE ZOOLOGIST. 



Besides, it is not necessary, so far as Britain is concerned, to 

 absorb time and money in the present special investigation on 

 the food of fishes. That has long been sufficiently known for all 

 practical purposes. Neither would the great labour and cost 

 bestowed on the temporary and permanent pelagic or floating 

 organisms seem to be warranted. Enough has long been known 

 to demonstrate the ever-abundant supplies from diatoms to 

 fishes. Concentration in an inquiry of this kind is essential. 



In conclusion, therefore, a survey of the published work of 

 the International Fisheries' Investigations, excepting that of the 

 Bureau, from the British standpoint, has failed to elicit a satis- 

 factory answer to the fundamental question submitted to the 

 British investigators, viz. " Whether the fishes in the North Sea 

 are," to state briefly, " in proportion to their consumption, and 

 whether any disproportion between production and consumption 

 arises from an injudicious employment of present apparatus." 



Though some zoologists, apparently less confident of solving 

 the various problems in their own department, pin their faith to 

 hydrography, this science is, to make a slight alteration on the 

 words of its workers, still at an immeasurable distance from 

 being helpful ; whilst it has — formerly and now — entailed heavy 

 expense. 



The results in the southern section of the North Sea — as to 

 migrations, rate of growth, and the intensity of fishing — though 

 interesting, are premature and inconclusive, and the distribution 

 of the Sole has not been forthcoming ; whilst those in the 

 northern section, on the whole, and though some are laborious, 

 make little real advance on previous knowledge, yet they in- 

 advertently support the view of the ' Besources of the Sea.' 

 Neither substantiates the theory of the " Impoverishment of 

 the Sea," and both leave much of the British area unexplored. 



On the other hand, in the light of long experience, a general 

 consideration of all the facts of the British and Continental 

 workers is fairly compatible with the safety of the fishes in the 

 North Sea. 



The experience of this costly international work, however, 

 shows that, with the exception of the Bureau, it is not well 

 adapted for any practical gain to the British Fisheries, which 

 are best managed by central boards and a carefully trained 



