308 REMARKS ON TRAWLING. 
«(b) As to the destruction of the spawn of food-fishes, 
“ (¢) As to the proportion of live and dead fishes.” 
It is important to remember, also, that the choice of ground lay 
with the trawler in almost every case, and that the most produc- 
tive ground, so far as could be ascertained, would in all probability 
be selected. 
In the Report of 1884 the fishes were grouped into “ saleable,” 
“ unsaleable,” and “ young,”’ the latter term being synonymous with 
that now in general use, viz. “immature ”’—a term, indeed, which 
was introduced prominently in this Report. These three heads are 
well understood, and need cause no ambiguity, since even the fish- 
ing community are quite able to understand them—a size limit, of 
course, in every case having been considered. ‘To the Royal Com- 
missioners the fact that a young or immature dab was under 7 
inches was not of great utility, but the number of such young forms 
was of the utmost importance in view of the statements then 
prevalent. Due care was taken to see personally that every 
example was authenticated, and if any weight is to be attached to 
the statement that the “ great defect of the Report* is that no 
information whatever is given as to the limit of size dividing the 
saleable fish from the immature,” there will be little difficulty in 
remedying it. Besides, it was not the scientific observer who 
regulated the sizes of the saleable fishes, but fishermen engaged in 
an industrial pursuit, and who had to bear in mind the demands 
of the public. Moreover a fish of a size that was saleable at 
St. Andrews might not be so at Aberdeen, and vice versd, though, as 
a rule, the variation under this head was not great. According to 
the state of the market, again, fishes—e.g. gurnards—that were 
saleable at one season were unsaleable at another. As pointed out 
in the Report, “it is remarkable that so good a fish should be 
lable to variation in this respect, and that it should not always be 
taken to market, even during the height of the herring season.” 
Frog-fishes even occasionally found a ready sale in the great central 
towns of England after the head, skin, and fins were removed; and 
in the Outer Hebrides dog-fishes formed, and still form, an important 
item in the crofters’ diet-roll, the piles of skins in front of their huts 
being characteristic. 
To take the fishes in the order in which they are mentioned in 
the Trawling Report, the following sizes formed the lower limit of 
the saleable fishes:—Skate (including grey, thornback, starry, 
sandy, &c.), 10—12 inches across the pectorals; herring, 7—8 
inches, but those obtained were all much larger; codling (young 
cod), 8—10 inches, but no example so small occurred in the series ; 
* Prof. Ray Lankester, Sea Fisheries, Chicago Exhibition, 1893, p, 64, 
