NORTH SEA INVESTIGATIONS. ter 
notable for their prime condition, and (again on Mr. Alward’s 
authority) the improvement was accompanied by a change in the 
colour of the spots. It was some years before any scarcity of fish 
became noticeable, and when such scarcity induced fishermen to 
explore new grounds—e.g. the Brown Bank and some of the east 
coast grounds—the same phenomena were experienced so far as plaice 
were concerned, 
There is thus a consensus of experience that trawling at first 
improves the quality of plaice, but that this process may be carried 
out with such hearty good-will that the fish incur the danger of 
being improved off the face of the earth, is an axiom which does 
not find such universal acceptance. ‘Trawlers appear to consider 
that the action of their gear in stirring up the bottom and 
uncovering molluscs, worms, &c., is the principal cause of the 
improvement in plaice, but there is perhaps a more probable 
explanation. 
The plaice is a fish which, after attaining a certain size, is little 
subject to the attacks of other species ; in fact, I do not recollect 
ever to have found the remains of this fish in the stomach of any 
other, though I know that it occasionally falls a prey to the angler 
(L. ptscatorius); nor can I find, by watching their habits in 
captivity, that plaice are much given to molesting each other. 
Consequently, on a ground which is never fished, it might well be 
that plaice would increase to such an extent that they would 
overtax the food supply, and, under such conditions, they would be 
of very poor quality. Seemg that the action of the trawl is 
infinitely more destructive to the plaice than to the organisms which 
form their food, trawling would at first, by thinning the numbers of 
the fish, increase the supply of food available for the survivors, and 
allow them to get into better condition than they were before. 
But as it is quite evident, if this theory is correct, that the quality 
is only raised at the expense of the quantity, it follows that unless 
this process is exercised in moderation the result must finally be 
disastrous. Nevertheless, in the face of universal experience to the 
contrary, there may yet be found those who assert that the more 
you trawl the more fish there will be. 
As to the condition of the haddock im the early days of Dogger 
trawling I have no very definite information. They were very 
abundant, but I have not heard that they were of inferior quality, 
except on a ground lying to the east of the Dogger ; there it appears 
that the objectionable smell of the viscera, due, no doubt, to the 
organisms on which they fed, was the worst fault that could be 
urged against them. ‘The truth is that haddock were so utterly 
worthless to trawlers until a curing establishment was started at 
