OF THE GRIMSBY TRAWL FISHERY. 411 
appear, in the case of the series of columns dealing with fish of 13 
inches and above, and those which fail to reach even that modest 
standard of size. It will be noticed that if we eliminate the months 
of March to August inclusive, the proportion of very small fish is 
not a large one. 
I have never made any attempt to collect the numbers of fish 
under 8 inches, the limit proposed by the Parliamentary Com- 
mittee, because there is no necessity to do so. No one conversant 
with the Grimsby market will be disposed to say that the subjoined 
table of proportions is far from the mark: 
Proportion of plaice landed at Grimsby: 8 inches and above, 
99°9 per cent. ; less than 8 inches, 0°1 per cent. 
Unfortunately the small fish /anded at Grimsby by no means 
comprise all those which are destroyed by Grimsby trawlers. 
Certainly on any but the Eastern grounds very few unmarketable 
fish are caught; and on the Terschelling ground and those north 
of the Horn Reef there are no very small fish, but between the reef 
and Terschelling the trawl often brings up a quantity that are not 
saleable. I cannot attempt to estimate the quantity annually 
captured in this manner, but can give an instance which perhaps 
will serve sufficiently well. In 13 hauls made in the neighbour- 
hood of Borkum and Schiermonnikoog 141 baskets of plaice were 
caught. Of these 93} contained saleable fish from about seven to 
thirteen inches, which were brought to market. The remaining 
474 baskets, consisting of fish of about four to seven inches, were 
shovelled overboard. In actual numbers probably more fish were 
thrown away than were brought home. 
The question has often been asked, is a fish killed by being caught 
in the trawl? The answer given on all hands is that it depends 
upon circumstances. It depends also on the kind of fish, since flat- 
fish as a class are rather hardier than round-fish, and some flat- 
fish are hardier than others. The plaice, with which we are now 
dealing, is about as hardy as any, and if the ground is clear, and 
there is not much weight of fish in the net, a plaice will survive a 
short haul, and even a moderately long one; but the smaller the 
fish, the more lable it is to injury. 
When there isa big bag of fish, many of them will be mortally 
injured, even in only a moderately leng haul on clear ground, the 
small ones especially being liable to be crushed or jammed between the 
meshes of the net; but if the ground is dirty, with quantities of 
weed, or, still more, if it is soft, with either loose sand or mud, the 
fish has not much chance of survival. 
The length of haul depends a good deal on the nature of the ground, 
Thus on open grounds I find the average duration of a steam- 
