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in a very parlous condition. If the reported examples are 
not fair examples they destroy all our faith in the authori- 
ties. The truth is that such hauls ave made, and unfor- 
tunately for the shrimpers, are too often made to be 
pleasant, but they are by no means fair or ordinary examples, 
though they occur often enough to prove that young fish 
exist in numbers many times more than can _ possibly 
develop. These young fish of two to four inches long are 
those which have escaped the dangers of babyhood. They 
are not the miserable little larval forms which Professor 
Herdman dignifies by the title of ‘ fry,’ and which he pro- 
poses at enormous cost to hatch and distribute. ‘‘ Carrying 
coals to Newcastle ’’ is sober common sense compared with 
such a proceeding as this. Further, these gentlemen have 
the grace to admit that in spite of the alleged destructive 
ness of shrimping, it was satisfactory to find such enormous 
quantities of young fish on the grounds, that even these are 
not sure of being destroyed, only ‘‘they run some risk.” 
They must be aware that in the normal course of things 
nearly all the young fish go overboard as soon as the nets 
are cleared, and that flat fish are little the worse. Those 
which may die are not lost. It merely means that other 
forms of life below water get a meal a little easier than they 
otherwise would do. To me and to the fishermen it is of 
infinitely greater importance that the wives and children of 
the men should not starve by the action of the Fisheries 
