BRITISH FISHERIES

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXIV, Issue 12027, 20 May 1936, Page 1

BRITISH FISHERIES

NORTH SEA EXPERIMENTS. To the ordinary men whales in the Antarctic and fish in the Arctic may have vary 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 whale 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 prawn-like .animals which exist in vast numbers in the Antarctic seas.

The distribution of these prawnlike animals is related in turn to the distribution of small microscopic plants, which also grow in vast numbers. These in turn alter the chemical composition of Hie water, so it has been possible, by analysin'; the water, to make a direct deducUon as to the distribution of the whales.

This work has taken a number of years to complete. Fish in Arctic waters, for example Bear Island, 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 upon the fisheries.

Recently a new line has been started on services from London to Esborg, Denmark, which is cutting across other lines and giving check results.