Abstract
THE concentration of phytoplankton organisms at times in dense patches in various parts of the sea is a phenomenon, which was recognised by early observers (see also NATUBE, Dec. 7, p.897). These brownish or greenish patches in the North Sea, usually formed of the diatoms Ehizosolenia or the colonial flagellate Phceocystis and accompanied by a slime which clogs the nets are well known to the fishermen, who call such discoloured water ‘stinking water’, ‘weedy water’, ‘Dutchman's baccy juice’, etc., regarding it as a bad sign for the fishing. The present authors analyse the herring fishery of the southern North Sea together with the occurrence of these phytoplankton patches, the object of the work being “to give an account of our knowledge of the distribution and movement of any dense phytoplankton concentrations in the southern North Sea from 1921 to 1932 (excepting years 1928 and 1929) at such times as might affect the herring fishing, and by examining the official reports and statistics of the fisheries from year to year to see whether or not the existence of these patches, either on the fishing grounds ‘themselves, or lying in the path of incoming shoals of fish, can be regarded as a probable cause of some of the fluctuations in the herring landings over this period.”
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Phytoplankton and Herrings. Nature 136, 962 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/136962a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/136962a0