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great deal of influence in foreign countries, would issue 
a suggestion to all fishermen, that the moment the shrimp- 
net came out of the water the first thing to look after was 
to throw the young fry overboard. The mackerel, he 
believed, only spawned about the latter end of June and 
the beginning of July. The spawn lay for some time at 
the sea-bottom, then the young fry came forth, and were 
in an oily state in the month of September, and the next 
spring they were fit to be caught. 
Mr. THOMAS KEmpP (Whitstable) said he was perfectly 
acquainted with the estuary of the Thames from the North 
Foreland up to the Naze, Harwich, where the chief trawling 
was done by the shrimp-net. Some thirty years since it 
was very prolific of edible fish, large quantities of which 
were caught and taken to market, but from some cause 
they had disappeared, and those now taken were chiefly 
taken by shrimp-trawls. If it were to be the law that 
trawl-nets should be of a certain size, it would be impossible 
to catch the shrimp. If you saved the shrimp you must 
save the small fry. One speaker had said that when small 
fry had been in the net a certain time they would be useless 
if cast into the water again, but he could hardly believe 
that that wasso. There was a great demand for this small 
fry for the purpose of bait, especially all along the Kentish 
coast, and at Grimsby, where what was called trotting for 
whelks was pursued, and the small fry was saved by the 
fishermen, and saved for this purpose. If anything could 
be done in the shape of legislation to prevent this, it would 
be of great benefit. He believed as many whelks were 
destroyed and cast into the water again as actually came 
to the market. 
Mr. WOODGER (Scarborough) said he was not a fisher- 
man, but he felt bound to say a word in support of the 
