Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-08-24
FRoE. HUXLEY ON TEE SEA Flsu.
KRIEs.

Probably one of the most valuabl,
recent years vas the lecture by Profess
sor Huxley at the opening of the Fish
eries Conference in London. RefeYrinc
70 the nature Of the coast fisheries. ths
Professor quoted from a report made by
himself and others, az Fisheries Com
mtssioners, In 1856, as follows:
The produce Of the sea around on,
coasts bears far higher proportion e
that OF the land than Ia generally ioao-
ined. The most frequented fishing
grounds are much more prolific of food
than the same extent of the riches,
land. Once In a year an acre of good
land, carefully titled, produces ton of
corn or two or three hundred weight of
meat or cheese. The same area at the
bottom Of the sea in the best fishing
9rounds yields a greater weight of food
TO the perssverinR fisherman every week
IN the year. Five vessels belonging to
the same owner In single nights 6sh-
ing brought in seventeen tons weight
OF nsh, an amount Of wholesome food
equal in weight to that of 80 cattle or
300 sheep. The ground which these
vessels covered during the nights fish
ing could not have exceeded IN area of
fifty acres.
In dealing with the question of
whether the fisheries are inexhaustible,
Professor Huxley supplies some inter
esting II not startling facts. He be-
iieves that by restricting fishinR in sal
mon rivers IL Ia practicable to 30 reRu-
late the action Of man with regard to a
ealAOn river that q process of extirpa-
ton cannot take place.
He believes oyster fisheries are ex-
hnustible. 1t In well known that oyster
beds in Canadian waters have been CON-
pletely exhausted, and there are other
fisheries which may disappear in the
same way. But, turning 10 the deep sea
fisheries, the Professor is Of Opinien
that cod, herring, pilohard, mackerel,
ETC., might be regarded as inexhaustible.
He remarks:
|. Those who had watched the cod and
herring fisheries Of the Lofoden Isles,
on the coast of Norway, say that the
coming in of the cod in January and
February is ono of the most wonderful
sights in the world; that the fish form
what is called q "cod mountain" which
may occupy vertical hight of from 20
to 30 fathoms-that ia to say, from 10
70 100 feet-in the sea; and that these
shoals OF enorMous extent keep coming
in in great numbers from the westward
and southward for a period of some
thing like swo months. The number Of
these fash Ii 90 prodigious that Professor
Sars tells Us that when the fishermen
let down their loaded lines, they feel
the weight knocking against the bodies
Of the goldfish for long time before it
gets to the bottom. have made COM
putation, with the details of which
l will not trouble you, which leads to
this result, that IL you allow the fish
each of them four feet in length, and
let them be yard apart, there will
DO in a square mile of such shoals
something like 40, ,O00, 900 fish.
bslieve l am greatly undertaking
the actual number, for believe the fish
lie much closer, bot l would beg your
attention to the bearing of this under
estimate, because / do not know that
the Lofoden fishery has ever yielded
more than 30,O0O,O00 fish in good sea-
son and, as far as l am aware, the
whole Of the Norwegian fisheries, great
az they are, do not yield more than TO-
O0O, 600. 80 you will observe that one
Of these multitudinous shoals would be
sufficient to supply all the fisheries Of
ENOA AWoy uo1PiosoayB ooo W ioovo q hSRc
balance behind. And that is not all.
These facts nbost the God apply also to
the herring; for not only Professor
Sars, but all observers who are familiar
with the life OF the cod when IL has at
tained q considerable size, tells rs that
ths main food Of the cod Ii the herring,
20 that these l20. .O00, 900 Of cod in the
square mile have to be fed with herring,
and Il Ia easy 10 see, II You allow them
only one herring day, that tho guam
tity Of herring which they will want In
the course Of week will be something
like S&0.000,00O. Now, believe the
whole Norwegian herring fishery has
never reached the hgure Of 400 900 600
fish-that In to say, one half the fish
which this great shoal Of goldfish eats in
q week would supply the whole Of the
Norwegian fisheries.