The Overfishing Problem by E. S. RussellReview by: Stanley KempJournal of the Royal Society of Arts, Vol. 91, No. 4635 (MARCH 19th, 1943), p. 219Published by: Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and CommerceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41362792 .

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Mar. 19, 1943 THE CANADIANS : STORY TOLD IN STAMPS 2IÇ

The largest unit of the Commonwealth of Nations known as the British Empire, (*) Canada stands steadfast in loyalty to His Majesty George VI " . . . and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King ".(б2/64)

NOTES ON BOOKS

The Overfishing Pr oblem . By E . S . Russell . Cambridge University Press, 1942. 7 s. This little book, by the leading authority

on British fisheries, is based upon a series of lectures delivered by the author at the Johns Hopkins University in 1939. It is a concise summary of the substantial advances which have recently been made in our knowledge of the overfishing problem, more particularly as it affects bottom fish in European waters.

The evidence that the stocks of fish on the older grounds have been heavily depleted by steam trawling is given in some detail and will generally be regarded as conclusive. The statistics cover a period extending from long before the war of 1914-1918 up to the beginning of the present hostilities and, for the stocks of bottom fish in the North Sea, they show clearly the steady decline in the years prior to 19 14, the rapid recovery during the war period when trawling was at a mini- mum, and in more recent times the heavy slump which followed the removal of the war-time accumulations. Supplies of fish to this country have been maintained by a variety of means : by the discovery of a lucrative cod fishery in the far north, by the utilization of species not hitherto marketed, and by increased fishing effort, as illustrated by the number and tonnage of trawling vessels and the use of a new and more effective form of trawl. On all the older grounds, however, the yield has continued to decline, increased intensity of fishing has for the most part merely resulted in a reduc- tion of the average size of the fish and in the period immediately before the present war the slump had reached a ruinously »low level.

The book itself was written before the war, but in the preface Dr. Russell draws atten- tion to present conditions and to the lessons to be learnt from past history. During this war, as in the last, the fish with their marvel- lous powers of recovery are once again increasing in number and in size, and when hostilities end we may confidently expect that the stocks will have been rehabilitated. Are we going to use this circumstance - one of the very few benefits that war has brought

- with wisdom, or must we once more stand aside, as we did in 1920, while the stocks on which the future depends are ruthlessly dissipated for immediate gain ?

Recent research, as shown in the fourth chapter, has made it abundantly clear that there is an optimum catch, yielding the maximum steady return, to be derived from each fishing area. If the intensity of fishing is above that needed to produce this optimum, not only will the future of the fishery be imperilled, but the catch, even if not actually reduced, will fail to give a proportionate return on the additional expenditure.

At one time it was thought that conserva- tion of fish stocks could be achieved by regulating the trawl mesh to a size large enough to allow the younger fish to escape. It is now known that this is a fallacy. Mesh regulation is undoubtedly helpful and will need to be continued, but with uncontrolled fishing power, overfishing, with all the evils that follow from it, will still occur. As the author points out, there is only one remedy for overfishing - that is to fish less, and it appears that after the war only a moderate reduction of fishing power is needed to ensure the permanent prosperity of areas which for long years have yielded little or no profit. To organise a rational system for the exploitation of our fishing grounds is no easy matter and of necessity it can be done only by international agreement. But if the difficulties are great, so also are the opportunities. That fish-stocks have been re-established will be an immense advantage, and a small reduction in pre-war trawling tonnage will not bear heavily on an industry which has lost large numbers of its vessels through enemy action.

Public interest in our fisheries rarely extends beyond the breakfast table and the fried-fish shop, and it must be admitted that the literature on overfishing is for the most part to be found in scientific journals which are not readily accessible. This book is thus most welcome, particularly at the present time, and congratulations are due to the author for the clear way in which he has presented these very important results of modern fishery research. Stanley Kemp.

GENERAL NOTES

Art for the People. - On March 12th, at John Lewis's Blitz Site, Oxford Street, there was opened by Mr. Brendan Bracken,

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