TERRIBLE DESTRUCTION OF SMALL SOLES. 189 



each end is fastened to a heavy iron runner, called the 

 trawl heads ; between the trawl heads is fixed a rope or 

 chain, called the gi'ound rope. As the vessel above 

 pulls this great net along the bottom of the sea the 

 ground rope stirs up the flat-fish from the mud or sand 

 and they are immediately caught in the funnel-shaped 

 net behind them. The meshes of the net of a trawl 

 net vary : the largest are close to the beam, the smallest 

 at the ' cod end.' Into this cod end is swept every- 

 thing that enters the mouth of the net. The trawl net 

 is working at the bottom of the sea on the average six 

 hours, and during' this time it naturally collects not 

 only fish, but sea- weed, stones, mud, etc. 



" When the net is hauled on to the deck and the cod 

 end opened to let the fish out, the little flat-fish are dis- 

 covered jammed up tight among their larger comrades 

 and the rubbish. 



" The captain of the smack is unwilling to put them 

 overboard, because they are dead ; they are therefore 

 packed w^ith the other soles and sent off to London or 

 other markets. 



"The fish merchant buys a 'pad of soles' without 

 examminor the contents. He afterwards finds little and 



O 



undersized fish mixed with the marketable soles ; he 

 cannot sell them — they therefore are passed from one 

 to the other, till at last they are sold to the poor people 

 in penny or twopenny lots. 



" The same thing occurs with other kinds of flat- 

 fish." 



The question of inventing a mesh of net that will let 

 go the small soles, while it will retain the larger ones 

 (and in my opinion no sole should be taken mider 7in. in 

 length) is the greatest problem that we have to consider 

 in dealing with the future Sea Fishery question. This 



