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gross misrepresentation of facts in actual fishing which we 
are left to infer from the report. No shrimper would, or 
could, fish under such circumstances as are reported. I 
have, scores of times, been with them when such a haul 
was made, and the consequence has invariably been that 
they gave up fishing and moved off to try their luck else- 
where, where young fish were not so thick on the ground, 
this not from any sentimental kindness to the young fish, 
but asa pure matter of business. The shrimps would be 
worth about fourpence per quart to the fisherman, so in 
such a case as is reported, for the hard work involved ina 
long trawl, as well as an hour or more spent in picking the 
few shrimps from a mass of fish, they would receive 
fivepence, and out of this wear and tear of boat, sails, and 
net would have to be paid. 
If we have shewn what these experiments do not prove, 
let us see what they do prove. We must in justice to these 
gentlemen assume that their hauls were in their opinion 
fair examples of the shrimp fishing. If so, we have genuine 
cause for alarm, for they show such an enormous abundance 
of young fish forms as to make it certain that our shrimp- 
ing population must starve, for under such conditions as are 
reported they cannot possibly live themselves, much less 
support wives and families. If the reports are not strictly 
fair, but if they still represent in some degree, though ex- 
aggerated, the present state of things, the shrimp fishing is 
