BRITISH FISHERIES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 116, 18 May 1936, Page 12

BRITISH FISHERIES.

A SCIENTIST'S HELP. NORTH SEA EXPERIMENTS. To the ordinary man whales in the Antarctic and fish in the Arctic may have very much in common, but to the scientist the study of one is likely to result in prolific catches of the other.

Professor A. C. Hardy, of Hull, in an interview, stated that up to the present his investigations have been confined to the herring and wliale fisheries, but he is anxious now to help trawler owners, for he believes that his findings in the whaling grounds will.have a direct application.

It has been possible to deduce the distribution of whales in the Antarctic over a number of seasons from the chemical conditions in the water. Whales feed on certain pra'wn-like animals which exist in vast numbers in the Antarctic seas. Analysing the Water. The distribution of these prawn-like animals is related in turn to the distribution of small microscopic plants, which also grow in va.st numbers. These in turn alter the chemical composition of the water, so it has been possible, by analysing the water, to make a direct deduction as to the distribution of the whales. This work has taken a number of years to complete. Fish in Arctic waters, for example Bear Islanrf, are feeding very largely on similar prawnlike animals. Professor Hardy believes, therefore, that this work will have a direct application to the Arctic trawling fisheries, and he hopes to start investigations into the distribution of the Arctic plankton in relation to the northern fisheries. At the present time Professor Hardy has recorder lines across the North Sea for the study of conditions affecting the distribution of the plankton, and in turn the distribution of plankton upon, the fisheries. Recently a new line has been .started" on services from Ixindon to Esborg, Denmark, which is cutting across other lines and giving check results.