The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-12-22
DEEP SEA FISH INExHAUsTIBLE.
No Amount of Fishing Can Extermi-
nate Cod and Herring.
From the springfield Republican.

From the Springfield Republican.
At the meeting of the International fish
cries exhibition. held in London 1883.
explaining the difference between anadro-
nous fish Chose swimming from salt to
fresh water, as the salmon and shad), and
the pelagic, or deep swimming fish. as
the cod, Prof Huxley said:
"A salmon fishery (and the same rea-
soning applies to all river hsheries) can
be exhausted by man, because man is,
under ordinary circumstances, one of the
chlef agents of destruction, and, for the
same reason, its exhaustion can usually
be prevented. because mans operations
may be controlled and reduced TO any eX-
tent that may be desired by force of law.
And now arises the question: Does
the same reasoning apply to the sea fish
erleSE Are there any sea fisheries which
are eXhausttble, and, If so, are the cir
cumstances of the case such that they
can be efficiently protected2 | believe IL
may be affirmed with confidence that, in
relation to our present modes of fishing,
a number of the most important sea fish
cries, such as the cod fishery, the herring
hshery, and the makerel fishery, are In
eXhaustible. And l base this conviction
on two grounds. First, that the multi
tude of these fishes is so inconceivably
great that the number we catch is rela-
lively insignificant; and, secondly, that
the magnitude of the destructive agencies
at work upon them is so prodigious that
the destruction effected by the fishermen
cannot Sensibly increase the death rate
AT the great cod fishery of the LOfo-
den Islands the fish approach the shore
In the form of what the natives call cod
mountains vast shoals of densely packed
nsh, 10 to $50 feet in vertical thickness.
The cod are so close together that Prof.
Sars tells us the fishermen, who use lines.
can notice how the weight before II
reaches the bottom, Is constantly knock
ing against the fish. And these shoals
keep coming in one after another for two
months, all along the coast
"A shoal OF goldfish Of this kind a
square mile in superficial extent, must
contain at the very least 120,00J0 600 fish.
But ii is an exceptionally good season
II the Lofoden fishermen take 30.0Q, 600
cod; and not more than 70,000,OO0 or $4,000
900 are taken by all the Norwegian fisher
les put together. So that one fair shCS
OF all that approach the coast in the sea-
son must be enough to supply the whole
of the Goldfish taken by the Norwegian
hseries and leave a balance of 40C00,0O
or 50,O00000 over.
THE principal food Of the adult cod ap-
pears to be herring. If we allow only
one herring to each Goldfish per diem. the
cod in a square mile of shoal will CON
sumo 84O;OOOOO herring in a week. But
all the Norwegian fisheries put together
do not catch more than half that num-
Der OF herring. Facts of this kind seem
to me to justify the belief that the take
Of all the cod and herring fisheries put
together does not amount to per cent
of the total number of the fish. But the
mortality from other sources is enor-
mus EioIh tHe liihe the nsn are natcn-
ed they are attacked by other marine
animals The great shoals are attended
by a host Of dogish. pollack, cetaceans
and birds, which prey upon them day
and night, and cause a destruction in
fnitely greater than that which can be
effected by the imperfect and intermit-
tent operations of man.
Il believe, then, that the cod fishery
the herring fishery, the pilchard fishery,
te mackerel fishery, and probably all the
great sea fisheries, are inexhaustfble that
is to say, that nothing we do seriously af-
fects the number Of the fish"