296 dibectoe's report. 



Taking up the advisability of preventing the sale or having 

 possession of flat-fish under a certain size, he advocates the adoption 

 of the biological standard (that of sexual maturity) for turbot, brill, 

 and sole ; but is able from a careful study of the eastern grounds 

 on which the small fishes are mostly found, and the sizes above 

 which the fishes in those localities do not appear to be captured, to 

 suggest a way of escape from the difficulty which has ever been 

 present since it was found that, in the North Sea, plaice were of 

 good marketable size before they spawned. 



Speaking of the Fishery Conference of last February, he says 

 that if the " limit of eleven inches for plaice were enforced, there 

 would still be enough saleable fish left to make the grounds worth 

 visiting ; whereas if it were raised to fifteen or even fourteen 

 inches, the grounds would assuredly be left alone." 



To prevent the capture of plaice under eighteen inches (the size 

 at which this species is found to spawn in the North Sea) would 

 mean the practical prohibition of the fishei'y. This proposition of 

 Mr. Holt's seems to me, therefore, to be of very decided value, since, 

 while sticking to the same system, it compromises the one great 

 practical difficulty. 



The Sea Fishery District Committee of Cornwall, like the Com- 

 mittee for Lancashire, has recently been considering a measure for 

 the limitation of the sizes under which fish may be taken in their 

 territorial waters. It is a fortunate circumstance that in this case, 

 and on the south-west coast generally, flat-fishes when spawning 

 for the first time are of a very much smaller size than is the case 

 in the North Sea, because the average sizes of the fish taken are 

 very much less. The whole rate of growth appears to be slower. 



At the British Association meetings held this year in Edinburgh, 

 a discussion on the Application of Biological Science to Fisheries 

 was arranged for. Mr. Holt, being the member of the staff engaged 

 in our most important fishery investigation, was sent to take part 

 in the proceedings. 



In the course of the discussion the possibility of concentrating scien- 

 tific power from various important points of the United Kingdom, and 

 the great benefit which would be derived from one central and control- 

 ling department of the Government, was commented upon. England 

 especially is in want of some organising body, by which the scientific 

 knowledge already acquired concerning her fisheries may be applied 

 for the protection and improvement of the industry. The fisheries 

 of England are surely not less important than those of Scotland or 

 Ireland, and should not be left to take care of themselves. The 

 outcry on every side that our fisheries are being depleted ought to 

 make us investigate the cause and apply the remedy. Unofficial 



