Abstract
IN the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Report of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries for the year 1932 (London: H.M. Stationery Office. Is. Qd. net), it is stated that the catch of salmon and migratory trout showed a still further increase over the very poor catches that were made in 1930. It is also satisfactory to read that in 1932 there was no considerable outbreak of furunculosis, a disease concerning the determining factors of which we need much more information. Thanks to the preliminary work which has already been carried out, it has now been shown possible to disinfect ova with acriflavine, which if carried into practice should eliminate one possible source of spreading infection. The need for continued and increased research into the life-history of the salmon is stressed as bearing on the formulation of fishery laws. It is not yet known how great a part is played by heredity in the determination of whether a fish shall be early- or late-running; if indeed, as some apparently believe, this characteristic is carried on from one generation to the next, it would be advisable to cease protecting those fish which ascend the rivers after the close season and are thus of no commercial value. The clearing up of this question would indeed be of far-reaching interest in the racial study of fishes in general. The salmon is a fish on which such an investigation can be carried out in practice, and information thus obtained might throw light on similar phenomena among our sea fishes, such as spring- and autumn-spawning herring. It is all the more regrettable therefore that the recommendations of the Committee appointed in 1930 by the Minister and the Secretary of State for Scotland on artificial propagation of salmon have had to be regarded as not feasible at the present on the grounds of economy.
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Salmon Fisheries Research. Nature 132, 960 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/132960c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/132960c0