436 EXAMINATION OF THE PRESENT STATE 
the only grounds they can reach, for the recuperation of grounds 
whither their small boats dare never venture. 
On this account I think we may be perfectly certain that the 
international closure scheme is purely visionary. It has the further 
disadvantage of being impossible to enforce. The stretch of ground 
is so enormous, and extends so far from the coast, that it would 
pretty well take the entire navy of Europe to look after it, while 
the necessarily heterogeneous nature of the police force would not 
tend, as I imagine, to international amenities. 
Leaving international action out of the question, we have still the 
power of preventing our own boats from fishing these grounds, or 
rather, of prohibiting their doing so ; and as the bulk of the injury 
is inflicted by our own fishermen, it may be held that, by putting a 
stop to their operations, we should close the grounds sufficiently to 
allow of the recuperation of the supply. This is true enough, but 
if we abstained, assuredly other nations would step in, since our 
markets, in the absence of a size limit, would still be open to small 
plaice ; and in the end, I suppose, the result would be to place our 
fishing fleet under a foreign flag, just as the unappreciated atten- 
tions of the Board of Trade are said to be alienating our Mercantile 
Marine at the present day. 
(111) Close seasons, 
The institution of close seasons for some of the more valuable 
trawl-fishes has occasionally been suggested, but it needs very 
little reflection to see that it is in no way practicable, except, 
possibly, in connection with certain defined areas. 
From my remarks in a previous chapter it will have been seen 
that the spawning of different kinds of fish is by no means 
simultaneous, but that for at least nine months of the year there 
are one or more valuable species spawning. ‘To establish a close 
season for one or more kinds, while permitting the rest to be sold, 
would be folly of the most inconceivable kind, since we know that, 
once the fish is caught in the deep-sea trawl, it matters little 
whether it is thrown back or brought ashore. It is killed in 
either case—in nine cases out of ten. ‘Therefore, if we wish to 
establish a close season for any one trawl-fish, without regard to 
area, we must establish a close season for all trawl-fish at the same 
time, and thus stop trawling altogether. This, I imagine, is 
altogether out of the question, as it would ruin the trade. 
Even with regard to defined areas there are great difficulties in 
the way of a close season, but it might be possible to close a piece 
of ground for a certain time with a view to the protection of one 
species, ‘lhe sole seems to offer the best opportunity, while it is 
