Mr. Yarrell on Whitebait and Shad. 143 



The net used by the fishermen for the taking of Whitebait is illegal on 

 • more accounts than one ; the mode of fishing, which is against the stream, 

 is also illegal; the fish float with the tide, and only about two hours of 

 each ebb and flow can be employed to advantage. The fish are most 

 plentiful when the weather is warm, and can only be taken during day 

 light. It would probably be difficult to ascertain the fact, but I have 

 reason to believe that the ova which produce these swarms are deposited 

 in shallow water on the flat shores about and below Gravesend, as I have 

 almost uniformly received the smallest Whitebait from the lower part of 

 thei river. 



The evidence printed in the report from the commissioners appointed 

 to enquire into the state of the supply of water to this city, coi^ins a 

 sentence in point on this subject, communicated by Mr. Goldham, the 

 clerk of the fish market at Billingsgate, a gentleman who has made fish 

 and fisheries his particular study. 



»* Whitebait are certainly obtained in greater abundance than formerly, 

 " by poachers (viz. fishermen who have been thrown out of their former 

 " employ) using unlawful nets; it should however be observed, that 

 " Whitebait are tak^n at particular times of the tide ; as they are a 

 " salt-water fish, and come and retire with the water, which is partially 

 •' salt ; on this account they are never known above Blackwall." See 

 Report, page 72. 



From the train of circumstances here detailed, it will be obvious that 

 I consider the Whitebait as distinct from the Shad. I have now before 

 me, preserved in a weak mixture of alcohol and distilled water, both young 

 and old Shads, and nearly one hundred specimens of Whitebait of all sizes, 

 the latter from 1 inch in length to 4|; all taken this season, and all, as 

 I believe, young fish of this year. By this it will be evident that their size 

 has been much under-rated by those authors who have described the length 

 as not exceeding 2 inches. I have also before me a fine specimen of 4 J 

 inches in length, an adult fish with roe, and as the fishing for Whitebait will 

 probably continue till October, I have little doubt of obtaining others in 

 a more advanced state as the season proceeds. I believe that these fishes 

 deposit their spawn during the winter, that the young are slow in their 

 first developement, as well as in their subsequent growth, and probably 

 never attain any considerable size. The food found in their stomachs 



