Abstract
INFORMATION given in the Report for the Year 1934 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (H.M. Stationery Office, Is. net) shows that, on the whole, despite the prolonged period of drought during the summer months of that year, no disasters of a widespread character took place. The droughty conditions have, however, inevitably affected the catch of fish to a certain extent and led to incidents of mortality from pollution of one kind or another. Although the mortality of fish attributable to furunculosis was comparatively slight, the Report wisely stresses the necessity for no relaxation of vigilance over the dangers of this disease and states that “it is regrettable that the Diseases of Fish Bill, after passing through the House of Lords, failed, owing to congestion of business in the House of Commons, to become law”. There is evidence in the Report that increasing attention is being paid to problems of pollution which affect not only the fisheries, but also the use of rivers for water supply and as amenities for the general public. The appointment of an Inland Water Survey Committee will, it is hoped, produce additional information of value for the study of fishery problems by the gauging of streams and correlation of their flow with rainfall. It is satisfactory to note that the large amounts spent on sewage disposal during the last few years appear to be benefiting many rivers. There is, however, still much work to be done in this direction, and it is pointed out that sewage was probably the cause of more cases of fish destruction than resulted from industrial effluents.
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Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries. Nature 137, 309 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137309a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137309a0