THE IMPOVEIUSHMENT OF THE SEA. 7 



any appreciable change either of decrease or increase iu the inshore 

 fisheries, and appeals to the general statistics of the sea fisheries to 

 show that the enormous fecundity of sea fishes and similar causes 

 "enable Nature to cope, in regard to the food-fishes, with all the 

 wonderful advances in apparatus of capture, and with the steady in- 

 crease of population." 



SUMMAllY. 



I have therefore, iu the first place, made an independent examination 

 of the results of the Fishery l>oard's experiments. It will be seen, in 

 the sequel, that I agree with Professor Mcintosh that the methods by 

 which it was sought to demonstrate the observed changes in the fish 

 population of the closed waters were inadequate, and caused the 

 Fishery Board's conclusions to rest upon an insecure basis ; but after 

 eliminating all sources of uncertainty in the methods, I find that the 

 changes in the fish fauna, which were especially emphasised by 

 Dr. Fulton, are capable of abundant verification. There appears to 

 me to be no further room for doubt that during the ten years' closure 

 of St, Andrews Bay and the Firth of Forth against trawlers, there was 

 a decrease of plaice in the closed waters of both areas, and a marked 

 increase of common dabs ; and that in the Forth lemon soles markedly 

 decreased, and long rough dabs increased. These latter species are too 

 scarce in St. Andrews Bay to be worth considering in respect to that 

 area. I concur with Dr. Fulton that the decrease of plaice and lemon 

 soles, in spite of the protection inshore, is most probably to be attributed 

 to the effects of over-fishing by trawlers on the offshore grounds, which 

 causes, as one of its results, a great reduction in the quantity of eggs 

 by which alone the stock of these fish can be maintained, whether on 

 the inshore or offshore grounds. I also agree in part with Dr. Fulton 

 that the increase in dabs and long rough dabs may be attributed to 

 some extent to the protection of the inshore spawners of these species ; 

 but am inclined to attribute a certain and probably a large portion of 

 the increase to the advantage conferred on the dabs by the reduced 

 numbers of their competitors, the plaice and lemon soles. The 

 reported increase of dabs and long rough dabs outside, as well as 

 inside, the closed waters tends to support this view. 



In the second place, I have endeavoured to make a fairly exhaustive 

 analysis of all the available statistics, official and unofficial, which deal 

 with the English fisheries. They consist of the following separate items: 



1. The actual annual catches of Grimsby sailing trawlers for a nearly 

 continuous period of thirty-three years, from 1860 to 1892 (supplied 

 by Grimsby smack-owners). 



2. The weight of fish annually sent inland by rail from the port of 

 Grimsby, compared with the numbers of fishing vessels, both sailing 



