48 



fishes of the Zuiderzee and a few years ago was almost quite 

 neglected. In later years, however, the smelt has come in high 

 deniand, especially for the London , Paris and Brussels markets, 

 and this no doubt is a great advantage for the fishermen, and 

 much more so for the dealers in those fishes. 



Most probably the Zuiderzee's smelt production has been bene- 

 fitted by the probitive measures dictated by the law of '81. My 

 researches leave no doubt but that the kuilnets cause great destruc- 

 tion among the young smelts. Little smelts are found in the Zui- 

 derzee nearly throughout the whole year ; they are very tender , 

 and so are always already dead when the contents of the net 

 come aboard the vessel. With regard to the length of the little 

 fishes of this species, observed in those nets, a good dealofobser- 

 vations were made and these I unite in the following table. 



