FISHING BY NEW AND TRIED METHODS

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27191, 7 November 1953, Page 3

FISHING BY NEW AND TRIED METHODS

Underwater Hunting. By Dr. Gilbert Doukan. George Allen and Unwin. 162 pp. The Tale of a Wye Fisherman. By H. A. Gilbert. Jonathan Cape. 221 pp. There She Blotvs. By Hakon Mielche. William Hodge and Company. 227 pp.

Beginning in the Mediterranean where the water is warm and clear, underwater hunting has now many adherents and has spread far and wide. The participant, wearing goggles and flippers, clenching his breathing tube between his teeth, and carrying a harpoon gun, enters the water quietly. Swimming on the surface with head down, a new world appears beneath his eyes. To increase his scope he dives, closing the breathing tube with his teeth. Down below him it may be dark, hostile and terrifying. Submarine meadows stroke his skin with light clinging fingers. Danger lurks everywhere as he searches for prey. A few minutes is the maximum that can be spent in the new and fascinating world lest vertigo or ruptured capillaries cripple further activity. On rising to the surface, the breathing tube must be blown through before air can be taken in. Despite dangers and difficulties, the awe inspiring beauty of marine life beckons. The curiosity of the diver overcomes his fear of terrifying isolation and down he goes for another few minutes, as he catches sight of another fish. Dr. Doukan is more than expert at this sort of activity. He is a trained observer of marine life and gives many practical hints about the habits of the most sought after fish. He also describes the equipment used, the dangers encountered and reviews briefly the development of underwater hunting throughout the world. Already this new sport has a rigid code. No hunting is allowed in an autonomous diving helmet which allows the diver to remain under water for a long period through the use of compressed air bottles. This type of equipment can be used for exploration only. Fish caught by underwater hunting cannot be sold. In this way the professional fisherman is protected. While this book is not exhaustive. Dr. Doukan has succeeded in introducing his subject in a stimulating and comprehensive

manner. Wherever it is read and conditions are suitable this fascinating sport is certain to win many new adherents.

There are rivers which anglers know well by name although they may never fish them. One is the Wye, the most famous salmon river in England and Wales. It is a grand old river, which rises in Wales, hasty and tempestuous, and flows, broad and stately, into England and the Severn. Mr Gilbert, who has known it since boyhood, and fished it for more than 50 years, says it is a noble and glorious river, famous both for its beauty and ifor its fishing, and his Comment is supported by his record of the Wye’s history, and the 'fine illustrations that ' accompany it. His book, first published in 1928. is a study of the Wye from earliest recorded times to the present [day, and tells how the river and its great salmon were saved for private fishing. Anglers will be more interested

than others in Mr Gilbert's story, and will share his interest in the river which, as a boy, he thought was the most wonderful in the world. Mr Mielche, wha visited New Zealand in the Danish research vessel Galathea, is concerned with fishing on a larger scale, although the “fish” of which he writes are actually blue whales, and the waters in which they are caught are in what whalemen know as the Southern Ocean. His book is a graphic and lively story of modern whaling as the Norwegians conduct it with 25,000-ton factory ships, fleets of whale catchers, radio telephones, and harpoon guns. Mr Mielche spent a season in the Antarctic with the whalers, and has produced an enjoyable and informative narrative of ships, men, whales, and the history of whaling.