Finally, about 50 percent of the female sole are sexually 

 mature at a length of 27 centimeters (about the fourth year) o 

 A high upper limit of the siee will therefore encourage the egg 

 production and increase the stocko There is no objection to the 

 increase in density since the rate of growth is so higho 



ddo Turbot and Thornbacko 



Little is known of the stock^strength of these fine speciese 

 It seems that the turbot and thornback have not increased during 

 the respite provided by the war years „ It does not appear improbable 

 that an increase of the egg production will have a favorable influence 

 on the stock of these fishes o The females of both species become 

 sexually mature only at a length of about 40 centimeters. It will, 

 therefore, not be good for the egg production if considerable 

 quantities are landed between 20 and 30 centimeters which was the case 

 dui-ing the period 1930 to 1940o Fish of these lengths have a low 

 value J they ought to get an opportunity to grow more. The large 

 width of these fishes unfortunately makes it impossible to protect 

 them by the use of a minimum mesh widtho A high minimum size, even 

 if it does not correspond with the mesh width, will be of value© 

 The fishermen have a great desire to take the best fish firsti 

 therefore, the undersized turbot and thornback have a much better 

 chance to be thrown overboard alive and in good condition than the 

 undersized plaiceo ffe should like to set the minimvotL size for 

 turbot and thornback at 30 centimeters o 



ee» Flounder o 



The flounder has always had too low a value to protect it 

 for its own sakeo At least half of the trash-fishing catches for 

 meal consisted of flounder and since the small flounder appears 

 on the young plaice grounds, the fishery could still be economical 5 



on these grounds, if there were no size limit for floundero The 

 size does not need to be too high since it is only necessary to 

 make the trash fishery impossibleo A minimum size of 20 centimeters 

 seems sufficiento More protection is not desirai)le< since this 

 cheap fish might become a harmful competitor of the better species e 

 The flounder becomes sexually mature earlier than the plaice 

 (at a length of about 20 centimeters) » 



ff. Codo 



Our conclusion was that the cod stock was not in danger but 

 that some protection would have a good effecto 



This effect might amount to an increase of the catches near . 

 the coasto It is an interesting phenomenon that after the second- 

 as well as after the first World War, the cod catches increased 

 greatly in areas near the coasts after 1930 there were no cod far 



I 



