The Fishery Board for Scotland and its participation in international investigations
Admas, J.A. (2002). The Fishery Board for Scotland and its participation in international investigations, in: Anderson, E.D. (Ed.) 100 Years of Science under ICES: papers from a symposium held in Helsinki, 1-4 August 2000. ICES Marine Science Symposia, 215: pp. 45-55
In: Anderson, E.D. (Ed.) (2002). 100 Years of Science under ICES: Papers from a Symposium held in Helsinki, 1-4 August 2000. ICES Marine Science Symposia, 215. ICES: Copenhagen. V, 610 pp., more
In: ICES Marine Science Symposia. ICES/Reitzel: Copenhagen. ISSN 0906-060X, more
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| Keywords |
Historical account
Organizations > Fishery organizations
ANE, British Isles, Scotland [Marine Regions]
Marine/Coastal |
| Author keywords |
Fishery Board for Scotland; ICES |
| Abstract |
Scotland made a notable contribution to the establishment of ICES. This partly had its origins in the early 1880s when Otto Pettersson and a group of Edinburgh oceanographers, including John Murray of the "Challenger" Expedition, became familiar with each other's work and interests. About the same time, the reconstituted Fishery Board for Scotland gained funding for what became a continuing programme of fisheries research. From the beginning, this included hydrographic studies, and in 1893, Murray advised Pettersson to request the Board's assistance in complementing work in the Skagerrak, Kattegat, and Baltic by making hydrographic observations in the Northern North Sea and the Faroe-Shetland and Norwegian Channels. This the Board did, and in 1896, it supported similar work after the London International Geographical Congress approved Pettersson's proposals for an international survey in the North Atlantic, the North Sea, and the Baltic. However, in 1898, the Board acceded to the British government's view that such a survey was only important as an adjunct to investigating the impact of existing fishing methods. Perhaps as a result, Murray resigned from the Board, his place as scientific member being filled by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson, who attended the Stockholm Conference in 1899. While Thompson encouraged the Board to accept the international programme formulated at Stockholm, the official British position initially reflected considerable caution, partly centred on doubts about the programme's use of research steamers. Britain confirmed its participation early in 1902, the Board learning that it would, consequently, lose most of its science funding. The future of the Board 's scientific staff and facilities was in doubt until the Board was appointed agent for the northern part of Britain's contribution, with Thompson, who believed passionately in international cooperation, directing the work from University College, Dundee. By the early 1920s, the distinction between the international work and the Board's programme had disappeared, although Thompson continued to play an important role in ICES. |
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