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VI. MEMORANDUM ON THE DESIRABILITY OF CON- 
TINUING. THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL SURVEY 
OF THE SOUTER ARRICAN, Sst 
As the potential fishing area in the South African Seas 
is about 38,000 square miles in extent, and, of this, only a 
small part has been adequately exploited, it will be seen 
that there is a source of wealth and food supply entirely 
untouched om these coasts. To indicate how it is that such 
a large fishing area has remained unexplored, and how best 
it may be opened ‘up, is the aim of the following note. 
Another practical aspect to which it is desirable to draw 
attention is the need of further knowledge as to the habits 
and kinds of fish occurring in the South African Coast. Such 
knowledge is urgently required in view of several problems, 
such as the conservation of the diminishing supply of Snoek, 
the preservation of the now important Crawfish industry, the 
presence of fish such as the Cape Sardine and Anchovy, which 
occur, it is believed, in immense quantities in the South 
African seas, but which are not utilised. 
I have referred elsewhere, to the previous: history jet ene 
fishing industry, which has led up to the present state of 
development, and need only mention here that about forty 
or fifty years ago the industry was in a very primitive condi- 
tion, partly due to the fact that there was no ready market 
nor great demand for fish, and partly due to the primitive 
methods in which fishing was carried on.. At a later date 
the demand for fish increased with the increase of the white 
population, and at the same time the inshore fisheries showed 
signs of becoming exhausted. Under these conditions it is 
not surprising that the importation of fish from overseas 
soon increased to an undue extent, and large sums were sent 
out of the country for fish which might have been procured 
in South African waters. Thus in the year 1902 well over 
three hundred thousand pounds value of fish were imported 
into South Africa from European countries. 
In view of this state of affairs, attempts were made to 
increase the supply of fish by employing more modern methods 
of fishing and larger boats, which could go further afield to 
discover and open up new fishing grounds. A number of 
experienced fishermen were introduced from the North Sea, 
and settled down at Port Elizabeth. The fishing conditions 
were, however, so different from those prevalent in European 
seas and moré remunerative employment was so easily found 
elsewhere that the experiment led to no practical results. 


