SCIENCE IN THE FISHERIES

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 48, 25 August 1933, Page 14

SCIENCE IN THE FISHERIES

Accurate forecasts of the abundance) of sea fish are becoming possible through tho work of the Fisheries Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries at Lowestoft. The methods have recently been proved successful in the case of herring, plaice, and hake; and this year they arc to be extended for the first time to cover the cod fisheries of the North Sea. Counting rings on tho scales of herrings through a ! microscopes to tell their age; counting even smaller rings on a part of tho ears of plaice and hake; a census of fish mortality at different Jiges —these aro some, of the methods used. The next stage of usefulness, which is already being approached, is the discovery of not only how many fish there will bo, but of where they will be found. Changing currents, food supplies, and temperature may ail drive fish from one- ground to another to the mystification of fishermen, and in the case of herring it is known that a mass of small sea animals which they dislike may deflect their course. Such masses may extend as far as 150 milos, and bo a real barrier to fish movement. Another development of tho future is the preparation of long range forecasts from the success of par ticular spawning seasons. The abundance of fish of special ages, it has been founel, is dependent almost entirely on the proportion which survive tho first few weeks of life. Irish may be born just too soon or too late for tho flowering of the minute sea plants ou which they aro to feed; the supply of these may be affected by the proportion of Atlantic or Arctic, water which e.'ntrrs the North Sea round Scotland; and tlio right salts must be present for the plants to flower at all.

Motorcars to tho number of 588(1 were -stolen in the Metropolitan J'olice area n[ London last year.