also declined during the same period from 240 in 1903 to 228 in 1905.
The following table shows the number of British and foreign steam trawlers registered at North Sea ports, and for English vessels the number of fishing voyages made within and beyond the North Sea respectively:—
| Year. | Boats Registered. |
English Steam Trawlers. Voyages.[1] |
Scottish. Employed. |
German, Dutch and Belgian. Registered. | |
| Within North Sea. |
Beyond North Sea. | ||||
| 1903 1904 1905 |
1060 1049 1064 |
29,328 28,589 26,670 |
1822 2120 2671 |
240 233 228 |
181 199 228 |
Unfortunately the North Sea gains no rest from this withdrawal of British trawlers, since the place of the latter is filled year after year by increasing numbers of continental fishing boats. The number of fishing steamers (practically all trawlers) registered at North Sea ports in Germany and Holland was 159 in 1903, 177 in 1904, 205 in 1905, and 330 in 1907.
It is satisfactory under these circumstances to note the increased attention which has been paid in recent years to the acquisition of more exact knowledge upon the actual state of the fisheries and upon the biological and other factors which influence the supply.
A comprehensive programme of co-operative investigations, both scientific and statistical, was put into execution in the course of 1902 under the International Council for the Study of the Sea (see below). The Fishery Board for Scotland and the Marine Biological Association for England were commissioned to carry out the work at sea allotted to Great Britain, and the English fishery department was equipped soon afterwards with the means for collecting more adequate statistics.
Trawling investigations and the quantitative collection of fish eggs have located important spawning grounds of cod, haddock, plaice, sole, eel, &c.; marking experiments with cod, plaice and eel have thrown much light upon the migrations of these fishes; and the rate of growth of plaice, cod and herring has been elucidated in different localities. The percentage of marked plaice annually recaptured in the North Sea has been found to be remarkably high (from 25 to 50%), and throws a significant light on the intensity of fishing under modern conditions. It seems probable that the impoverishment of the stock of plaice on the central grounds of the North Sea is mainly attributable to the excessive rate of capture of plaice during their annual off-shore migrations from the coast. On the other hand, it has been shown that the growth-rate of plaice on the Dogger Bank is constantly and markedly greater (five- or six-fold in weight) than on the coastal grounds where these fish are reared,—facts which open up the possibility of increasing the permanent supply of plaice from the North Sea by the adoption of some plan of commercial transplantation (see Pisciculture).
History.—A brief review may now be given of the history of the administration of British sea-fisheries since 1860, and of the steps which have been taken for the attainment of scientific and statistical information in relation thereto.
In 1860 a royal commission, consisting of Professor Huxley, Mr (afterwards Sir) John Caird, and Mr G. Shaw-Lefevre (afterwards Lord Eversley), was appointed to inquire into the condition of the British sea-fisheries, the harmfulness or otherwise of existing methods of fishing, and the necessity or otherwise of the existing legislation. The important report of this commission, issued in 1866, embodied the following main conclusions and recommendations:—(1) the total supply of fish obtained upon the British coasts is increasing and admits of further augmentation; (2) beam-trawling in the open sea is not a wastefully destructive mode of fishing; (3) all acts of parliament which profess to regulate or restrict the modes of fishing pursued in the open sea should be repealed and “unrestricted freedom of fishing be permitted hereafter”; (4) all fishing boats should be lettered and numbered as a condition of registration and licence.
In 1868 full effect was given to these recommendations by the passing of the Sea Fisheries Act. Regulations for the registration of fishing boats were issued by order in council in the following year. (New regulations were introduced in 1902.)
In 1878 a commission was given to Messrs Buckland and Walpole to inquire into the alleged destruction of the spawn and fry of sea fish, especially by the use of the beam-trawl and ground seine. Their report is an excellent summary of the condition of the sea fisheries at the time, and shows how little was then known with regard to the eggs and spawning habits of our marine food fishes.
In 1882 the former Board of British White Herring was dissolved and the Fishery Board for Scotland instituted, the latter being empowered to take such measures for the improvement of the fisheries as the funds under their administration might admit of. Arrangements were made in the following year with Professor M‘Intosh of St Andrews which enabled the latter to fit up a small marine laboratory and to begin a series of studies on the eggs and larvae of sea fishes, which have contributed greatly to the development of more exact knowledge concerning the reproduction of fishes. Under the Sea Fisheries (Scotland) Amendment Act of 1885 the board closed the Firth of Forth and St Andrews Bay against trawlers as an experiment for the purpose of ascertaining the result of such prohibition on the supply of fish on the grounds so protected. The treasury also, by a further grant of £3000, enabled the board to purchase the steam-yacht “Garland” as a means of carrying out regular experimental trawlings over the protected grounds. Reports on the results of these experiments have been annually published, and were summarized at the end of ten years’ closure in the board’s report for 1895. Dr Fulton’s summary showed that “no very marked change took place in the abundance of food-fishes generally, either in the closed or open waters of the Firth of Forth or St Andrews Bay,” as a consequence of the prohibition of trawling. Nevertheless, among flat fishes, plaice and lemon soles, which spawn off-shore, were reported to have decreased in numbers in all the areas investigated, whether closed or open, while dabs and long rough dabs showed a preponderating, if not quite universal, increase.
The results of this classical experiment point strongly to the presumptions (1) that trawling operations in the open sea have now exceeded the point at which their effect on the supply of eggs and fry for the upkeep of the flat fisheries is inappreciable; and (2) that protection of in-shore areas alone is insufficient to check the impoverishment caused by over-fishing off-shore. (For critical examinations of Dr Fulton’s account see M‘Intosh, Resources of the Sea, London, 1889; Garstang, “The Impoverishment of the Sea,” Journ. Mar. Biol. Ass. vol. vi., 1900; and Archer, Report of Ichthyological Committee, Cd. 1312, 1902.)
A laboratory and sea-fish hatchery were subsequently established by the board at Dunbar in 1893, but removed to Aberdeen in 1900.
In 1883 a royal commission, under the chairmanship of the late earl of Dalhousie, was appointed to inquire into complaints against the practice of beam-trawling on the part of line and drift-net fishermen. A small sum of money (£200) was granted to the commission for the purpose of scientific trawling experiments, which were carried out by Professor M‘Intosh.
The report of this commission was an important one, and its recommendations resulted in the institution of fishery statistics for England, Scotland and Ireland (1885–1887).
In 1884 the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom was founded for the scientific study of marine zoology and botany, especially as bearing upon the food, habits and life-conditions of British food-fishes, crustacea and molluscs. Professor Huxley was its first president, and Professor Ray
- ↑ Excluding the voyages of the fleeting trawlers which supply London by means of carriers.
