Marine Fischereibiologie und allgemeine Meeresbiologie

Summary A review is given of the general development of marine biological research, both fundamental and applied. When marine fishery research was instituted, there was no lead from fundamental marine ecology, as would generally be the case from fundamental research to applied. But fundamental research profitted from the commercial interest in fishery science and was greatly promoted along with it. The mutual promotion of both lines of research is shown in the work ofHensen andHeincke. In modern times, one method has been found equally suitable for, and has been generally applied in, both lines of research: this is the establishment of the abundance and distribution of a single species and developmental stages in the sea on repeated cruizes of research vessels, in relation to the distribution of external conditions, such as temperature, salinity, currents, nutrients, food organisms and animal predators. Important indications concerning the influence of external conditions on populations could be derived from similar observations. At present, investigations in experimental ecology are urgently needed in order to corroborate the inferences drawn from these in situ-observations. Moreover, the progress of fishery research will to no small degree depend on increased investigations in marine animal physiology and in the microbiology of the seas.