Wheels and the Valuation of the Sea ¹

Abstract

IN the first of these Teports Dr. Petersen discusses the possibility of combating the harmful animals of the fisheries, especially the whelks (Buccinum and Nassa), in the Limfjord. It appears that these animals are exceedingly troublesome in the Limfjord owing to their great abundance and rapacity. They feed on the plaice caught in the nets (gill-nets), and Dr. Petersen estimates the loss to the fishermen at a third of the year's total catch, a very considerable amount. The process of deliberate extermination is not recommended, however, as being too costly and uncertain, nor does it appear possible to make any economical use of the whelks; but it is suggested that the fishermen should clear their nets at more frequent intervals, and for the rest hope for an epidemic among the whelks. The possibility of the latter seems by no means remote.