38 
reasoned out deliberately. Many of the propositions put 
forward that day, although they appeared very plausible, 
when they came to be thoroughly examined had no prac- 
tical weight whatever. It gave him very great pleasure to 
notice the careful manner in which Mr. Hepton, a practical 
fisherman, was studying this question ; and there was great 
evidence that whatever fishermen had been in the past, they 
were now progressing, and that with the spread of education 
and love of reading there would in the future be people con- 
nected with the fisheries who would be able to grapple with 
this great question. The various modes of net-fishing which 
had been condemned by different classes of fishermen only 
ditfered in degree; the only real difference was in line- 
fishing, where the fish could not be said to be captured, but 
took the bait of their own accord. He was pleased to hear 
the testimony from a Scotch gentleman, which went a long 
way to refute what had been advanced at a commission of 
inquiry which had taken place of late in Scotland, that the 
operation of trawling had entirely destroyed the fish on the 
Scotch coast, for if he understood him aright, he said the 
fish had been very plentiful indeed. The other question 
with regard to immature fish was, were fish sufficiently pro- 
lific to increase and keep up their numbers regardless of 
the means of capturing them ?- If it was true that they did 
produce in such numbers as to be almost incalculable, then 
the modes of fishing would have very small effect. Four 
or five years ago there was a commission of inquiry at 
which he gave evidence, and he still adhered to the views 
he then expressed, namely, that notwithstanding what he 
might think about trawling not being sufficient to exhaust the 
fisheries of the North Sea, he was still willing to admit that 
if scientific men could prove that certain grounds were 
breeding grounds or nursery grounds, the Government 
