37 
The eel, no doubt, is best protected hy regulations as to suitable mini- 
mum seizes at the various places, and as to the widths of tbe meshes of 
the eel-seines in the Limfjord. 
The eel-pout seems to be in need of protection only at very few places, 
and is on the whole a less important fish. 
The prawn (Palæmon Fabricii), on the contrary, undoubtedly wants 
protection. (See Dr. Th. Mortensen's "Undersøgelser over vor almindelige 
Rejes Biologi og Udviklingshistorie”, published by "Dansk Fiskeriforening”, 
1897.) 
It has been said against this view that, for instance, when the water 
freezes to the bottom, the stock of prawns may thereby, at certain places, 
suffer so exceedingly that this alone is enough to explain a decrease of 
prawns for many years, so that protection is-of no use at all, or even in- 
jurious; if the water freezes to the bottom, the prawns will die; if not, we 
shall get a rich prawn-fishery. This argument, however, is not quite satis- 
factory. It is not in all waters where the prawn lives that "hottom-frost” 
causes such destruction. It is, undoubtedly, worst in some particular seas 
(south of Zealand). But even if this decrease of the stock of prawns is 
caused by the natural conditions, there can be no doubt that a suitable 
protection, according to circumstances, would contribute much to increase 
it again. I should rather draw the conclusion that, the more ""bottom-frost” 
there has been, the more it is necessary to protect the prawn. Something 
like this is known also from the world of game-animals and from the vege- 
table world. 
Finally, it has been said also that the year 1901, with its warm sum- 
mer, has been such a rich prawn-year at several places, although we have 
had no protection, that we can draw the conclusion from this fact that pro- 
tection is altogether unnecessary. This is also wrong. For though we may 
conclude from this that the prawn-fishery under certain favourable conditions 
of weather, and as it has been carried on of late years, may be somewhat 
improved without any protection by law, nobody can say that the prawn 
was not in point of fact protected to a very great extent, at many places 
last year, because it would not pay to fish for the few ones which there were. 
No, indeed, there has been protection in recent years at very many 
places. The conditions of the Limfjord, with respect to these matters, are 
particularly well known; I shall therefore take that water as an example. 
In 1899, the value of the prawn-fishery in the whole fjord amounted only 
to 28,150 Kroner, and Mr. Redsted, the surveyor of the fisheries, moreover, 
adds the following observation: "The prawn-fishery is rather to be considered 
a failure; for a great part of the income which this fishery shows, is cer- 
tainly due to eels caught in prawn-traps. The summer of this year was espe- 
cially good for prawn-fishery; but the prawns did not come.” 
In 1900, they also fished very few prawns in the Limfjord, without 
laying the blame upon the weather; but in 1901 there was again some increase. 
