26 NORTH SEA INVESTIGATIONS. 



Grounds the smaller fish are nearer the land, and, to some extent, 

 the existence of a legal limit may have the effect of causing the travs^lers 

 to fish further out, where the larger fish are. I hope to study this 

 question by visiting the grounds on the fishing boats. At present, very 

 little of the remuneration is obtained from plaice under 8 inches, so 

 that the effect of the proposed law is not likely to be any very great 

 protection of the small fish. I have always thought that the question 

 of reproductive maturity is not the question of chief practical im- 

 portance in this matter. To my mind, the question is, can a limit 

 be discovered which will make the small plaice grounds unprofitable, 

 without causing waste on all other grounds. So far as I can see at 

 present, a limit of 10 inches would have conferred considerable 

 protection to the Eastern Grounds, without causing a corresponding 

 or considerable waste on the grounds in the open and central parts 

 of the North Sea. 



The probable, or we may say the certain, effects of a limit of 8 inches 

 and of 10 inches can be seen, to some extent, by inspection of the 

 data given in vol. ii., p. 347, of this Journal. The box there recorded 

 from Arlberg, Denmark, containing 198 plaice, would not be affected by 

 the limit of 8 inches, while the box from Schierraonnikoog, containing 

 286 fish, would lose only 9. With a limit of 10 inches, on the other 

 hand, the latter box would lose 200, and the former would lose 97 

 out of a total of 193. Of the Humber plaice recorded in the same 

 list, a limit of 8 inches would exclude in one sample 224 out of 

 425 fish, and a limit of 10 inches would shut out all the 425 

 except 8. 



In the report on the Dutch Fisheries for 1893, Dr. P. P. C. Hoek has 

 published the results of some experimental trawlings made with a 

 hired trawler off the Dutch coast. The trawl used had a beam of 

 35 feet in length. The mesh of the net was 2^ inches at the cod 

 end, taking the length of the whole mesh, which presumably means 

 1-jV inches from knot to knot. The hauls were made between 

 Terschelliu" on the north, and the latitude of Amsterdam on the 

 south, and may be considered in three groups — (1) within 6 miles of 

 the coast; (2) 15 to 30 miles off; (3) about 55 miles off. The following 

 are the sizes and number of plaice taken : 



First Group of Trawlings. 



Sept. 15. Less than 3 miles from shore; depth, 7 to 4 fms. About 

 175 lbs. of plaice, number not given, size 4i in. to 16 in. ; but of the latter 

 only 1 in 50 fish. 



Sept. 14-15. 5 or 6 miles off; depth, 8 fms. About 43 lbs. plaice, 

 6i in. to 10 in. 



