24 NORTH SEA INVESTIGATIONS. 



the Continental side than to the English, but this would make no 

 difference, if food for the young plaice, and other suitable conditions, 

 especially shallow water, were not more abundant and more extensive. 

 We have seen that the food of the small plaice largely consists of 

 Solen, and it is probable that the abundance of this mollusc depends 

 upon wide tracts of shallow sandy ground in the neighbourhood of the 

 mouths of large rivers. A somewhat similar case is that of Lyme Bay, 

 on the south coast of England, where the 20 fathom line is a long way 

 from the shore, and the smaller Brixham trawlers have been 

 in the habit of taking large numbers of small plaice. In 

 Dr. Fulton's investigations, he took a limit of 12 in., and found that 

 plaice under this size were chiefly confined to depths below 10 fathoms, 

 and a distance from shore less than 3 miles. This was on the east 

 coast of Scotland : the 10 fathom line, according to the chart, is in some 

 places 20 miles from the coast of Sylt Island. 



All this, however, being admitted, it does not afford a reason why the 

 young or small plaice should be less plentiful on the English side, off 

 the coasts of Lincolnshire and Norfolk, where the general slope is 

 nearly as gradual as on the Dutch and German coasts. There is 

 another difference to be taken into account in this locality, namely, as a 

 study of the chart will show, the existence of numerous banks and 

 holes and rough rocky ground. The grounds are worked by trawlers, 

 but are intricate, and necessitate short hauls, while the Eastern Grounds 

 are noted for the slight wear and tear which they cause to the trawl, 

 and the long hauls which can be made on them. It appears probable 

 that the number of young plaice reared is proportional, not merely to 

 the area of ground near the coast below 15 or 20 fathoms, but to the 

 area of ground of a certain quality, and producing certain kinds of fish 

 food ; and a scientific, accurate comparison of the English grounds with 

 the Continental, from this point of view, would doubtless throw much 

 light on the " eastern question " of the North Sea trawl fishery. I hold 

 strongly to the opinion that the business of naturalists in relation to 

 fishery questions is to establish a sound and extensive basis for 

 conclusions on fishery problems, by a thorough study of the physical 

 and biological conditions of the various fishing grounds. With regard 

 to the North Sea, it cannot be maintained that the investigations 

 already made, valuable as they are, supply anything like an exhaustive 

 knowledge of those conditions. On the contrary, they form merely a 

 foundation and preparation for further progress. 



In March, 189-4, Prof. Dr. Heincke published in the Milthcilungen 

 of the Deutscher Fischereiverein an article on the question of protection 

 of undersized plaice, &c., reviewing at considerable length the report of 

 our Parliamentary Committee on Sea Fisheries, which sat in 1893. 



