74 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



submit that it ought to be the function of the industry, and of 

 the administrators, to state the nature of the problems that 

 confront them and to ask for such information as may be 

 attainable ; still it is, no less, the task of the investigators to 

 study the economic conditions that prevail and to endeavour 

 to acquire an attitude that will enable them to direct the 

 scientific research along commercially useful lines. In the effort 

 to attain such an attitude I, therefore, refer to the condition 

 of the sea-fishing industries — so far as the information at my 

 disposal goes. 



The Trawl Fisheries. 



There is little doubt that many of the conditions of the 

 year 1920 were indicated in 1913 — all that the war has done 

 has been to accelerate a change that was apparent ten years 

 ago. In 1911 failing markets were being experienced — as 

 witness the Exhibition at Eusholme, in Manchester, in that 

 year. The steam- trawling trade was nearly stagnant because 

 the available home markets had fully been supplied then and 

 little could be done to develop an export trade in fresh fish. 

 So the " Fish-as-food " propaganda of that period took shape 

 and was the expression of a real difficulty in disposing of the 

 fish that could be landed. It came as a kind of shock during 

 the war years when one realised that, for most English people, 

 fish was not a satisfactory substitute for meat ! 



The vicissitudes of the steam-trawling industry during 

 the years 1914-1921 would be of extreme interest if some one 

 personally conversant with these affairs would write them up 

 before the first vivid impressions fade. In 1918, 1919, and 

 even early in 1920 there was an appearance of fictitious pros- 

 perity : it was generally believed that large " fortunes " had 

 been made by the owners of fishing vessels, and there were 

 many attempts at the flotation of new enterprises. The strike 

 of skippers of trawlers at Fleetwood in March, 1920 ; the 

 announcements made about that time of the " cost of pro- 



