NORTH SEA INVESTIGATIONS. 139 



evidence, namely, on May 10th, he turned out two boxes of plaice 

 caught towards the Dutch coast, perhaps from 30 to 40 miles ofl' that 

 coast. He said that one box contained 110 fish, the smallest 12 in. long, 

 and the other contained 90 fish, the smallest 13 in. long. These state- 

 ments are quite at variance with my observations made at Lowestoft, 

 during September and October this year, and I cannot help thinking 

 that j\Ir. Hame was mistaken as to the grounds from which the fish 

 came, or else was not sufficiently accurate in his numbers and measure- 

 ments. The facts show that, on the one hand, a size-limit of 8 in. for 

 plaice, as proposed by the Parliamentary Committee, would make no 

 appreciable difference to the deep-sea trawling industry at Lowestoft, 

 and, on the other hand, that higher limits, such as that which was 

 proposed by Mr. Holt for the protection of the German grounds, would 

 affect that port very seriously. 



Mr. Holt's latest proposal was to enforce a limit of 13 in. from March 

 14th to September 30th, and he supported this proposal by the following 

 contentions : That he had shown the proportion of plaice under 13 in. 

 on the oft'-shore grounds of the North Sea to be inconsiderable, and that 

 this limit, and no lower limit, would make it unprofitable to trawlers to 

 fish on the Eastern Grounds. Now, it is necessary to see how this limit 

 would work in the southern part of the North Sea, whose conditions I 

 have described, and how it would affect the trawling industry at 

 Lowestoft and Yarmouth. It is clear that the limit would stop the 

 trawling on the Brown Eidges, and all the grounds along the Dutch 

 coast south of the Tex el to a distance of about 50 miles from the shore. 

 In the box from the Brown Eidges, examined on October 2nd, no less 

 than 140 out of 176, or over 79 per cent., were less than 13 in. long. In 

 the box from the Dutch coast, received on November 18th, only 18 out 

 of the whole 197, or not quite 8 per cent., were over 13 in. The 

 Yarmouth and Lowestoft trawlers would have to work, therefore, on the 

 English side, from the Outer Dowsing southwards, and, even there, 

 would have to throw overboard a considerable proportion of the plaice 

 now brought to market. In the box from the Leman Shoal, examined 

 on October 4th, 47 out of 115, or 40 per cent, of the plaice, were under 

 13 in. In the box received on December 23rd, 83 out of 132, or 62 per 

 cent., were under 13 in. 



It can easily be inferred from these figures how the establishment 

 of a size-limit of 13 in. for plaice would be received at Lowestoft 

 and Yarmouth. If the regulation were rigidly enforced, it would entail 

 the bankruptcy of probably the greater number of the smack owners, 

 for it is not probable that the increase in the price at which the larger 

 plaice could be sold would be sufficient to compensate for the loss 

 of the smaller. 



