ON THE ENGLISH SEA FISHERIES. 8] 
From the superintendent of Mercantile Marine, Ramsgate, I 
have the following :—“ Trawling is almost exclusively practised 
here, and the present production of fish is quite equal to what it 
formerly was. The condition of the fish when taken out of the 
trawl is always good, except when it blows a gale, or when wreck 
or stone gets into the net. No other known means could give 
the supply of fish the markets demand, except trawling; no, not 
the fiftieth part.” This is about all I have been able to gather 
on the trawler’s side of the question, though I have searched and 
enquired diligently. There is very great jealously on the part of 
the trawling interest, as to any evidence about their proceedings 
being made public. 
As regards the other side of the question, I have much, and, as 
I think, important evidence. Mr. Jonathan Couch writes me:— 
“Since the practice of trawling has been introduced into this 
locality (Cornwall), it is the expressed belief of the fishermen 
that the produce of the fisheries has greatly fallen off. The des- 
truction of the spawn, spawning ground, and the food of young 
fish, is well-known; but precise evidence of this could scarcely 
be obtained, as all this mess is swept overboard at sea; and as 
many, perhaps most, of the proprietors of trawl vessels live on 
shore, being sailors, sail-makers, and fish merchants—the actual 
fishermen may be afraid to acknowledge the truth of the case 
through fear of being dismissed from employment. It is well 
known that fish caught with a trawl are much inferior in value 
to such as have been taken with a line, as might be supposed, 
when we consider that they have been dragged along the bottom 
of the sea for several miles amidst a mass of rubbish. Their fins 
thus become torn and their bodies bruised, so as to become putrid 
long before such as are caught in any other way. I have seen - 
sur mullets caught in a trawl that, for a time, I could hardly tell 
what sort of fish they were. It is my opinion that much of the 
injury inflicted may be obviated by only limiting the time when 
the trawl may be employed; that time being when the more 
valuable kinds of fish are engaged in spawning, and at other 
times they should not come within a given distance of land. I 
have heard it remarked, by those who are well acquainted with 
