48
The Last Resource
protecting the small sh could probably double the weight of the
catch. In the North Atlantic cod sheries an increase in the mesh
size of only a few per
cent has led eventually to increases in the
catch worth an estimated £10 million.
A reduction in total exploitation would be even more benecial
in some of the particularly heavily shed areas. It has been estimated
that if the number of trawlers shing in the North—east Arctic could
be halved, then, after a short period, the remaining eet would take
10 per cent more than the total previous catch and the cost per ton
might be more than halved. However, the history of Antarctic
whaling bears Witness to the difculties inherent in the bringing
about of international agreements of this kind even in the face of the
strongest evidence. Most major shing grounds lie over international
waters and nations involved in their commercial exploitation do not
like to curtail their efforts, thus sustaining heavy losses, so that all
can benet in the more remote future, by which time much of their
present shing gear would be ‘written—of‘f’ anyway.
Only the briefest respite from over—exploitation may be sufcient
to enable the stocks of sh to recover. Unlike the female whale which
produces one young every two years, a single female sh has at least
the potential to produce thousands. Although it is not practical to
stop shing to give a particular stock time for recovery, falling
returns from a failing shery may be enough to divert shermen to
other kinds of sh. The plaice shery in the North Sea has enjoyed
such a fortuitous turn of events and has improved considerably.
Finding the plaice shery becoming less remunerative, Danish
shermen, for example, have now developed an extensive shery for
sand eels and young herring, subsequently converting these smaller
sh into meal suitable as animal food. Alternative food sh are
available for exploitation in many other cases: probably nowhere
is this better seen than in the United Kingdom.
By tradition, British people are noted for prejudice and con—
servatism of taste, and while one might argue strongly against the
rst, the facts prevail on the second characteristic—at least where
sh is concerned. The British housewife does not normally buy
squid and yet during a Mediterranean holiday may well regard it as
quite a delicacy (ignoring the fact that the squid may well have been
exported from Scotland). British companies have large expensive
trawlers built for the long trek to distant shing grounds in the
pursuit of cod, while no more than a couple of hundred miles away
The Last Resource
protecting the small sh could probably double the weight of the
catch. In the North Atlantic cod sheries an increase in the mesh
size of only a few per
cent has led eventually to increases in the
catch worth an estimated £10 million.
A reduction in total exploitation would be even more benecial
in some of the particularly heavily shed areas. It has been estimated
that if the number of trawlers shing in the North—east Arctic could
be halved, then, after a short period, the remaining eet would take
10 per cent more than the total previous catch and the cost per ton
might be more than halved. However, the history of Antarctic
whaling bears Witness to the difculties inherent in the bringing
about of international agreements of this kind even in the face of the
strongest evidence. Most major shing grounds lie over international
waters and nations involved in their commercial exploitation do not
like to curtail their efforts, thus sustaining heavy losses, so that all
can benet in the more remote future, by which time much of their
present shing gear would be ‘written—of‘f’ anyway.
Only the briefest respite from over—exploitation may be sufcient
to enable the stocks of sh to recover. Unlike the female whale which
produces one young every two years, a single female sh has at least
the potential to produce thousands. Although it is not practical to
stop shing to give a particular stock time for recovery, falling
returns from a failing shery may be enough to divert shermen to
other kinds of sh. The plaice shery in the North Sea has enjoyed
such a fortuitous turn of events and has improved considerably.
Finding the plaice shery becoming less remunerative, Danish
shermen, for example, have now developed an extensive shery for
sand eels and young herring, subsequently converting these smaller
sh into meal suitable as animal food. Alternative food sh are
available for exploitation in many other cases: probably nowhere
is this better seen than in the United Kingdom.
By tradition, British people are noted for prejudice and con—
servatism of taste, and while one might argue strongly against the
rst, the facts prevail on the second characteristic—at least where
sh is concerned. The British housewife does not normally buy
squid and yet during a Mediterranean holiday may well regard it as
quite a delicacy (ignoring the fact that the squid may well have been
exported from Scotland). British companies have large expensive
trawlers built for the long trek to distant shing grounds in the
pursuit of cod, while no more than a couple of hundred miles away