252 THE HISTORY OF DUTCH SEA FISHERIES. 



face of the most conclusive statistical evidence, that no 

 decline of the cured-herring fishery had occurred under 

 those laws for twenty years. 



Summing up the results of its inquiry, the Committee 

 came to a set of conclusions, which may be rendered as 

 follows : 



The aim of the fishery laws is to have herring sold in 

 small quantities at high prices. The interest of both fishers 

 and consumers requires herring to be abundant and cheap. 

 Therefore the laws ought to be abolished. 



And to this end, the Committee laid the draft of a Bill 

 before Government, the chief purport of which was as 

 follows : 



Everybody to be free to fish when, how, and where he finds 

 convenient. Foreign sea-fish to be imported duty free. 



Assays of herring to be made facultative. Government 

 to have assayers and branders at the disposal of all who 

 shall require their herring to be branded. Assayers to be 

 appointed by a College for the Netherlands sea-fisheries, 

 which shall have no other administrative functions whatever, 

 but be a Consultative Board to Government on sea-fishery 

 matters, a majority in which shall be composed of men not 

 personally concerned in the trade. 



As exceptions to the general rule of free fishery, the 

 Committee advised to re-enact the prohibition from trawling 

 in winter along the coasts, and to maintain the law against 

 the use of the shrimp-trawl whenever fry of fish should have 

 been found in it The reason for these exceptions was, 

 that most of the fishers examined by the Committee be- 

 lieved in the exhaustibility of the coast waters by the 

 unrestricted use of ground-nets. 



The case had now been heard to satiety. All parties 

 had pleaded their side of it ; both the public and the 



