The Irish Naturalist, 
October, 
ARE GANNETS DESTRUCTIVE BIRDS? 
BY J. H. GURNEY, F.Z.S. 
In his valuable and important remarks on the Gannet 
{Sula bassana) Mr. R. M. Barrington, reviewing my lately 
published monograph on this species/ alludes to the supply 
of fish required for human food not being diminished by 
what Gannets eat. I am glad that he considers that this 
point has been rightly insisted upon, in the work just 
mentioned, and that he takes the view he does about it, 
which is undoubtedly sound, if the whole subject be con- 
sidered in its broadest sense. As the alleged destructive- 
ness of Gannets is a matter about which very strong and 
very different views have been held, anything bearing 
upon the question is important, in support of the contention 
that there are fish enough in the sea for man and the birds 
too. All scientific enquiry, undertaken by Professor Huxley 
and others subsequently, indicates that however many 
fish Gannets and Cormorants may eat, the extraordinary 
fecundity of fish will speedily make good the loss. The 
fish about which we are principally concerned is the Herring, 
which, in our seas, is the chief food-fish of the Gannet, 
whether on the coast of Ireland or of Great Britain, in 
both of which countries the Herring industry is very large. 
Indeed few people who have not gone into the actual 
figures, have any conception of the extent to which this 
trade has now reached, or of the magnitude of the capital 
embarked in it by fish merchants. Let me quote from 
the authorized fishery returns. During the year 191 2 
the Fishery Board of Scotland returned the total catch 
of Herrings, brought into Scottish ports, at 5,201,300 
cwts., and during the season following (1913) at 
4,449,323 cwts.^ This latter being somewhat the 
lowest record for eleven years. Taking the first of these 
1 " The Gannet, A Bird with a History." London (Witherby & Co.) 
See supra, pp. 156-8. 
2 " Scottish Fisheries. Thirty -second Annual Report," V. 
