The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-03-29
THE NORTH SEA
 As IT WAS AND IS

One o1 the most important and hitherto undiscussed elements of the famine which has become a bitterly signiftcant phase of the war, and which, according to innumerab1e re- ports, is growing steadily in various countries of Europe. is brought clear ly to the attention of Americans by William Joseph Showalter in a com munication to the Nation Geograptic Society concerning war and the North Sea fisheries. Discussing Europe's s endangered fish supply, this writer says:
 lswith It's war zones and counter war zones, it's mined areas it's hos tile fleets, and It's heavily defended shores. the North Sea. in a few months, has been transformed, from one of the richest food-pro oducing areas in Chr1stendom into a region up on whose mastery may depend the starvation of one or the other of two of the Inighttest nations of the earth. In times of peace no other like area in all the seas ever has given to hu- n1anity such rich supplies Of food as this marrow strait separating Albion from the continent of Europe. Dur ing they ear previous to the present war; a million and a quarter tons of fish were taken here, enough to fill a procession of fish trucks reaching across the United States from New
 
 Orleans.
 .tEurope has depended very much on these fisheries for it's fish, sup plies More than half of all the fish pro duced in all the waters of Europe are caught within. the limited territory that constitutes the North Sea fishing grounds How much they are depend ed upon IS shown by the fact that Great Britain annually absorbs 1. 00o. GOO, o00 pounds of North Sea fish; that means twenty-two pounds per capita And while this is small in proportion to her per capita meat com sumption of 119 pounds, yet it is that margin which represents the diff ence between a bounteous plenty and positive hunger unless other foods can be secured to take its place.
 '-GSermanyss dependence upon North Sea fish production is much the same as Great BEitainrs. while the depend l6ence Of the north countries of France, Austria Hungary and Russia is even greater, according to this writer who explains that inves stigation reveals the fact that as meat becomes less and less important in a nations dietary. fish becomes more and more import ant. Great Britain and Germany are shown to be the great meat consu1n- CTS of Europe with respective per capita consumption Of 119 and 113 pounds. France has a per capita con sumption of eighty pounds Belgium seventy. Austria Hungary sixty -four, and Russia fifty.
 s.AEcreover a closed North Sea. has thrown out Of " ork q hundred thou sand Engltshmenl who manned the steam trawl. the drifter and the sail ing boat, together with tens of thou sands of German, Dutch, Danish scandinavian and French fisherfclk While all supplies of fresh fish are dwindIing to negligible amounts and while little provision is being made for future supplies of dried and salt fish, 1t is to be presumed. the writer says, that the warning nations had considerable quantities Of preserved fish on hand at the outbreak Of the war. The vest proporticn of fish con sun1ed In Europe is salt fish, and it forms the nainstay of the larders of the poor. But for the salt herring, there are thousands of families in England and on the continent who would very rarely know the taste Of flesh
 "Grinsby is the fshing capital of the world with an annual output of perhaps 800, 900 tons Of fish. More than 500 steam trawIers operate from this port in time Of peace, and a special harbor has been built for the fish trade. including an outer basin of twelve acres and an inner basin of if, teen acres and two drydocks. And Billingsgate is the worlds greatest mid dd1eman's fish market, handling the more than one million and a half pounds of fish that is consumed every day by the city of London in normal times.
 sAmer1ca need fear no North Sea dilemma. in connection with it's own high seas fishing banks because, thanks to the great Anerican-orig ated system of hsh culture, we are able to go on drawing . larger part