_
ON FOOD-FISHES.
-
23
chiey conned to a belt within a reasonable distance of land,
and to which a constant immigration—active or passive—takes
place from more distant waters.
It is true that the larger
examples of the common species of food-shes become fewer by
persistent shing, but it cannot be said that, in the case of
'
either round or at shes in the majority of the areas, sig—ns of
j
extinction are apparent.
The resources of nature, as in most
of the invertebrates, would appear to be sufcient fofrecupera. _
.5f
tion.
The round shes are a wandering race, moving hither
;
and thither in search of food or for other reasons,
thus
}
their abundance
or
scarcity,
_
as
tested by hook, net, and
trawl, is subject to
remarkable variations of greater or less
duration. The flat shes, again, by their submei*sion in the
sand, by their activity and by their nomad life in the earlier
stages have considerable aids in their preservation.
It is
probable, however, thatit is mainly to the vast number of eggs
_
produced by each species, to their transparency and pelagic
'
'
;_
nature, and to the existence of boundless reserve-margins of
the sea that the food—shes have been enabled to resist
tion by natural agencies and by the various methods of shing
suggested by the ingenuity of
Yet the hordes of dog—
shès and the abundance of skate are kept up by forms which
_
have a very few large eggs
of slow development, protected
___;
either in the body of the parent or in a tough horny capsule.
;
The young sh enters life, therefore, at an advanced stage, and
,Î
escapes the dangers of minute size and great delicacy.
_
On the—other hand, the vast numbers of the herrings spring
from eggs xed in masses to various structures on the bottom.
That the young stages of the cod should seek the tidal margins
of the rocks, whereas the young stages of the haddock should
-
keep to deep water, and that the habit in each case should
conduce to the prevalence of the species, is another instance
=__Ë
of the inarvellous prescience of nature.
:_
'
'
Even if, in the waters within a reasonable distance of land,
shing were carried to such a degree that it would be no
longer protable to pursue it, it-is possible that the adjoining '
.
î
1 Enforced close—times, by storms, and in certain parts by ice have also to be
_
considered.
.
'
_
ON FOOD-FISHES.
-
23
chiey conned to a belt within a reasonable distance of land,
and to which a constant immigration—active or passive—takes
place from more distant waters.
It is true that the larger
examples of the common species of food-shes become fewer by
persistent shing, but it cannot be said that, in the case of
'
either round or at shes in the majority of the areas, sig—ns of
j
extinction are apparent.
The resources of nature, as in most
of the invertebrates, would appear to be sufcient fofrecupera. _
.5f
tion.
The round shes are a wandering race, moving hither
;
and thither in search of food or for other reasons,
thus
}
their abundance
or
scarcity,
_
as
tested by hook, net, and
trawl, is subject to
remarkable variations of greater or less
duration. The flat shes, again, by their submei*sion in the
sand, by their activity and by their nomad life in the earlier
stages have considerable aids in their preservation.
It is
probable, however, thatit is mainly to the vast number of eggs
_
produced by each species, to their transparency and pelagic
'
'
;_
nature, and to the existence of boundless reserve-margins of
the sea that the food—shes have been enabled to resist
tion by natural agencies and by the various methods of shing
suggested by the ingenuity of
Yet the hordes of dog—
shès and the abundance of skate are kept up by forms which
_
have a very few large eggs
of slow development, protected
___;
either in the body of the parent or in a tough horny capsule.
;
The young sh enters life, therefore, at an advanced stage, and
,Î
escapes the dangers of minute size and great delicacy.
_
On the—other hand, the vast numbers of the herrings spring
from eggs xed in masses to various structures on the bottom.
That the young stages of the cod should seek the tidal margins
of the rocks, whereas the young stages of the haddock should
-
keep to deep water, and that the habit in each case should
conduce to the prevalence of the species, is another instance
=__Ë
of the inarvellous prescience of nature.
:_
'
'
Even if, in the waters within a reasonable distance of land,
shing were carried to such a degree that it would be no
longer protable to pursue it, it-is possible that the adjoining '
.
î
1 Enforced close—times, by storms, and in certain parts by ice have also to be
_
considered.
.
'
_