372 EXAMINATION OF THE PRESENT STATE 
PART II. 
CuHapv. 1.—TxHe Derinitrion or AN Immature Fisa. 
Tue term “immature” as apphed to fish is somewhat vague, and 
it is by no means clear that those who originated the complaints 
about the destruction of fish included in this category, had any very 
precise idea as to the meaning which they intended it to convey. 
If we take what I suppose may be the most ordinary interpreta- 
tion of the term, viz. “ not full grown,” we accomplish nothing. In 
the case of the higher animals, such as quadrupeds and birds, there 
is a definite limit of size, and after this limit has been reached, in 
the youth of the organism, no further increase of bulk takes place ; 
but with fish it is different, since a fish appears to go on growing as 
long as it lives, a condition which does not admit of the erection of 
any standard of full growth. ‘The word “ undersized” has been 
frequently used as a synonym of “‘ immature ” in connection with fish, 
but there cannot be said to have been any definite standard of size, 
Both words are capable of being used in regard to two very 
different conceptions, namely, that which has reference to the market- 
able value of the fish, and that which refers only to its powers of 
reproduction. 
If we regard the terms as referring solely to the maturity of the 
reproductive organs, we certainly get a definite meaning for them, but 
at the time when the agitation was commenced there existed absolutely 
no information as to the size at which fish of various species acquired 
the power of reproduction. Theories no doubt abounded, and it 
appeared that many members of the fish trade held the opinion that 
those fish which were not saleable were immature, in so far as 
regarded their powers of reproduction. Conversely, it appears to 
have been generally held that fish large enough to fetch a price were 
also large enough to breed, or at any rate the affectation of sucha 
belief was not without convenience. Later developments of the 
agitation have shown that the saleable qualities were really held in 
paramount importance, very much to the exclusion of any other con- 
sideration, 
The criterion of market value is of course altogether arbitrary, 
