COASTAL WINDS AND THEIR INFLUENCE UPON FISH. 27 



ON SOME PECULIARITIES in our COASTAL WINDS 



and their INFLUENCE upon the ABUNDANCE 



OP FISH IN INSHORE WATERS. 



By H. C. Dannevig, 



Superintendent of Fisheries' Investigation, Department of 



Fisheries, Sydney, New South Wales. 



(Communicated by F. B. Guthrie, f.i.c, f.c.s.) 



[With Plates I. -VI.] 



[Read before the Royal Society of N. 8. Wales, June 5, 1907.'] 



In compiling the statistical evidence relating to the 

 quantity of fish obtained from various coastal waters, I 

 found that the total catches, though fluctuating somewhat, 

 are on the whole on an increase. The markets are now 

 receiving a good deal more fish than formerly, and that so 

 far is satisfactory ; but such an increase is not in itself a 

 proof of a greater abundance of fish on this coast, and we 

 know that the development of new grounds and an increased 

 number of men may have such an effect. It would seem 

 that the mode of capture has remained almost unaltered 

 for a very long time, and this facilitates a comparison 

 between past and present as regards the result of the 

 average man's work. 



It is fortunate that the Departmental Inspectors 

 stationed within some principal fishing waters, have kept 

 a monthly record of the number of men employed and the 

 bulk of their catches, and it is possible for each of these 

 localities to determine the average catch per man for each 

 month and for the year. 



The following table records the average catch per man 

 each month within all the fishing waters for which reliable 



