72 THE SOLES 



V. Portugtil and Morocco. Tons, VI. Southward of Ireland. Tons. 



Steam trawlers . . 77 Steam trawlers . . 46 



Sailing trawlers . . 26 



Total ... 72 



The soles, therefore, were not principally the prey of steamers 

 but of men ' in sail '. They were caught chiefly at depths 

 between 10 and 30 fathoms in the North Sea (south of the 

 Dogger Bank), the Irish Sea, the Bristol Channel, and the 

 English Channel. They are rare. They are accordingly 

 expensive. And they are (in exact antithesis to the coalfish) 

 essentially a luxury fish, and food for rich men. 



It is only on the southern trawling grounds down along the 

 coasts of Portugal and Morocco (where soles form about 

 15 per cent, of the catch of the hake boats) that the big deep- 

 sea vessels set forth with the idea of catching soles as one of 

 the main objectives. But on any grounds which they frequent 

 a few boxes of soles may make all the difference between profit 

 and loss on a voyage, and the tribe is of the utmost economic 

 value to all classes of fishermen who fish in those regions. 



Fluctuations in the Catch 

 From 1906 to 1913 the catch varied as follows : 



Irish Sea. Bristol Cfumnel. English Channel. 



Tons. Tons. 



342 350 



283 356 



513 323 



614 327 



554 276 



559 326 



686 325 



564 361 



It will be noticed that 1910 saw low-water mark in the sole 

 fishery in the North Sea and in the English Channel ; as it did 

 in the case of the plaice fisheries in the same waters. After 

 that year there was in the case of each species a recovery. 

 In the case of plaice at least this was not apparently due to 

 the fact that more vessels were fishing, as the average daily 

 catch per trawler also improved in 1911 and 1912.^ 



Is it possible that the fluctuations of the sole were due less 

 to the efforts of fishermen than to some change in oceanic 

 conditions ? This is no place to attempt an answer, but it is 

 suggested that inquiries should be made along this line. 



* See statement on p. 40, Chapter VII 



