500 



Part III. — Eleventh Annual Report 



of immature fish have been unfortunately interrupted by the want of a 

 propei seaworthy steamer — undoubtedly the most important instrument 

 for scientific fishery research. The Government are now considering 

 whether one something like a Grimsby steam-trawler should not be built 

 for the purpose. 



An inquiry was made by Dr Hoek in 1891 and 1892 as to the inland or 

 fresh water fisheries of one of the provinces (Zuid-Holland).* Dr Hoek in 

 his report describes the fisheries and their regulation, and the chief fishes 

 caught (perch, pike, &c), and makes various proposals as regards close 

 times, mesh of nets, &c. The general conclusion is, that all the regula- 

 tions of the inland-water fisheries, with the exception of the salmon 

 fishery (which is regulated by a special royal edict as well as by inter- 

 national treaty), are a failure, and that, as a consequence, no one cares 

 to spend money on the artificial propagation and cultivation of the 

 fresh-water food fishes. 



I am indebted to Dr Hoek for a copy of an exceedingly interesting and 

 detailed report on the habits, life-history, and ravages of the isopod 

 Limnoria lignorum, so destructive to timber. t The report deals with the 

 history, geographical distribution, anatomy, biology, &c, of the crustacean, 

 and the means of combating its ravages, and it is illustrated by a number 

 of plates. 



At the meeting of the Fourth Dutch Congress of Naturalists, held at 

 Groningen in April of this year,| Dr Hoek delivered an address on scientific 

 fishery investigations, especially in relation to their utility as a means of de- 

 veloping the fisheries. He described the activity which has been shown in 

 such investigations in various countries, such as America, Germany, England, 

 Holland, and Scotland. In regard to the investigations of the Scottish 

 Fishery Board, Dr Hoek says that Scotland has probably been the most 

 fortunate in this respect, and that the investigations have been repeatedly 

 shown to be of great practical value. He refers especially to the various 

 North Sea fisheries, and to the great increase which has taken place in the 

 means of capture during the last thirty or fortyyears, and, as a consequence, 

 that the sea seems no longer able to fulfil the demands made upon it — 

 ' V(e appear to take fewer fish, and those of a smaller size.' He says, if 

 you ask a Dutch fisherman why fish are scarce, he will blame the English 

 steam-trawlers, while the English fisherman blames the Dutch, Belgians, 

 and Germans for fishing in the shallow waters near the coast, and capturing 

 immense quantities of small fish. But Dr Hoek points out that it would 

 be dangerous to make regulations until we can judge exactly of the nature 

 and extent of the injury ; he insists on more complete knowledge of the 

 life-history and habits of the food fishes, and refers to many questions of 

 importance about which we are still ignorant, and describes the results of 

 the trawling experiments on the Scottish coast. 



The official report on the Dutch fisheries for 1891§ contains, as usual, 

 a very large amount of information regarding the sea fisheries of Holland. 

 The Dutch herring fishery is divided into three kinds — (1) the 1 great ' sea 

 fishery (zout liaring vissclierij), the produce of which is the well-known 

 pickled herrings (jieJcelkaring) salted on board ; (2) the 1 small 3 sea fishery, 

 or coast fishery, which produces the Steurharing for smoking. In 1891 

 the number of vessels employed in the herring fishing was 206 luggers 

 and sloops, each manned by 14 or 15 men, and 279 boats (bomschuiten) 



* 1 De Binnen- of Zoetwatervisscherij in Zuid-Holland,' Rapport aan Gcdeputcerde 

 Staten van Zuid-Holland. 



f ' Rapport der Commissie uit de k. Ak. van Wetenschappen, betreffende de 



Levenswijzc en de Werking van Limnoria lignorum.'' 

 X Wctcnscha'ppelijk Onderxock in dienst van de Vissclierij. 

 § Verslag van den Staat der Nederlandsche Zcevisschcrijcn over 1891. 



