54. 
The Immature Fish Question. 
By 
J. T. Cunningham, M.A., 
Naturalist to the Association. 
aS LACES TCS: 
Ir is only eight years since the Royal Commission on beam trawling 
issued its report, and already a Select Committee of Parliament has 
been appointed to make a new inquiry into one of the principal sub- 
jects investigated by that Commission, namely, the decrease of the 
fish supply and the advisability of remedial measures. Among the 
conclusions of the Commission was this one : 
“That in the absence of a proper system of fishery statistics and 
scientific observations, it is impossible to measure the fluctuations of 
the fisheries or to discover their causes.”’ 
In consequence of this statement the Board of Trade began the 
collection and publication of fishery statistics in 1886. Before that 
time only a return of the quantity of fish conveyed inland by rail 
had been issued; and although the Scottish Fishery Board had for 
many years obtained some statistics of the fish caught and landed in 
Scotland, none had been recorded in England, Wales, or Ireland. 
The Fishery Statistics are now annually issued in a series continuous 
with the old return of rail-borne fish, which is still included among 
the tables. The return now gives the total quantity and value of 
the different kinds of fish landed, the average price, the quantities 
for the different coasts of England and Wales, the quantities for the 
different months, and the totals for each port or district. 
Within the last few years an agitation has developed among those 
engaged in the fishing industry on the east coast of England, 
concerning the capture of immature or undersized flat-fish, and the 
decrease in the supply of the more valuable kinds of these fish, 
namely, soles, turbot, brill, plaice, and lemon soles. The conclusion 
of the Commission of 1883—5 on this subject was as follows : 
After carefully considering the whole evidence on the question of 
the decrease of fish, we are of opinion that— 
