The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1915-04-22
LACK OF FISH HITS
ALL EUROPE HARD
North Sea Trawing Paralyzod
by War Zone Raiders.
PINCH OF SCARCITY Is FELT

Annual Catch Of Million and a Quarter
Tons of Sea Food For Rich and Poor
Suddenly Cut OFF Adds to Periis Of
Starvation, Which Even In Neutral
Countries Are Feared.
with its war zones and counter
war zones, its mined areas, its hostile
fleets and Its heavily defended shores,
the North sea In a few months has
been transformed from one OF the rich
est food producing areas IN Christen.
dom into q region upon whose mastery
may depend the starvation OF n or
the other Of two Of the mightiest ma
tons Of the earth"
The above statement appears In b
current issue of the National Geograph-
ic Magazine, the official organ of b
National Geographic society. The ma.
lions referred to are not named, but
1t is apparent that the countries re-
ferred to are England and Germany.
The article, which Is unsigned, points
out that In times of peace mo other
like area has given to humanity such
rich supplies OF food as has the North
sea. There more than In any other
known region of the oceans, 1t adds,
the food fishes co%ngregate.
The fish food output of the North sea
In the year preceding the present war
totaled 1,250,000 tons.
Food of Rich and Poor.
To-day" says the article, "a hundred
thousand Englishmen who manned the
steam trawl, the drifter and the sail
ing boat: tens of thousands vi Ger
mans who We'd with them In their
work; Belgians, the French, the Dutch,
the Danes and the Sc~andinavians, who
also helped exploit the North sea fish
eries-all of these are largely out OF
jobs. Fishing boats now sweep the
sea for mines instead of SEEMING 1t for
fish.
Germany cannot look TO the Baltic
for any large supply Of fish to replace
her former supplies from the North
sea, for the waters OF that sea are
poor producing grounds. The total an
nual yield there Is only about n tenth
as great as that of the North sea, and
Germany's share of this IL In normal
times very small.
Great Britain's North sea fisheries
represent nearly two-thirds of the total
catch there and are more than eight
times as large as those Of Germany.
I'm the North sea three-ffths of the
total catch are herring; haddock takes
second place, constituting IL per cent
of the total; cod comes third, with S.5
per cent, and the plaice fourth. with
4.3 per cent of the total catch. In the
matter of values the ratio is somewhat
different from tina: OF weights. Con
stituting G2.7 per cent of the weight
of the seasons catch, the herring ac
counts for Gully 45.4 per cent OF IT.
value.
The vast proportion of the fish con
sumed in Europe Is salt fish. The
fresh fish go to the tables of the rich.
while the herring and other salted va
rieties are consumed principally b.,
the masses. The result Is that when
the pidch IN the fish supply began to
come 1t visited the homes of the well
to do first. All of the countries at wal
probably have enough salt fish In theii
warehouses to tide over a considerable,
period, but If the war keeps up this
reserve must disappear.
Not only do the nations at war fee
the pinch OF the fish shortage caused
by the war. but neutral nations AZ
well. Holland feels 1t sorely from a
production standpoint, as do also Swe
den, Norway aid Denmark. On the
other hand, 1t hits Switzerland more
from a consumption standpoint. That
country normally buys nearly $1,000,
900 worth Of fish from the countries
that border the North sea.
Hard to Realize Here
I'VE In America, where fish forms
such a minor part of our daily diet and
where so many of the fish that we eat
are grown I'm our rivers and bays, un-
der a great American originated sys.
tenn of fish culture. find 1t hard to rea;
ize how serious In their proportions
and how farreaching In their consc
quences are the results OF the practices
Aioclhe AoNh vi tnC AonCiiCc VI tDS
North sea.
Europe has depended very much Oh
these fisheries for fish supplies. More
than half of all the fish produced on
all the fishing grounds operated by Eu-
peans are caught within the limited
territory that constitutes the North sea
fishing grounds. How much they are
depended upon is shown by the fact
that Great Britain annually absorbs
100000 tons of North sea fish. That
means twenty-five pounds per capita
And. while this Is small in proportion.
to her per capita meat consumption Of
1l9 pounds, yet 1t Is that margin which
represents the difference between a
bounteous plenty and positive hunger
unless other foods can be secured to
take its place.
..rlYa CANA oaplgtinp onpliac - Gar