r3 
from the fishermen from all parts of the coast, complaining 
of the small size of the meshes of the nets used by some 
trawlers, and with suggestions of various new regulations for 
correction of abuses in this description of fishing. Many dif- 
ferent opinions were submitted, but it was on all hands 
agreed that the deterioration of the sea fisheries was attribut- 
able to the destruction of the fry, consequent upon the use 
of improper nets both by foreign and English fishermen. 
During the interregnum we find the Cromwellians following 
the policy pursued by the Cavaliers with regard to this 
question, and the good old regulations, whereby the use of 
the small-meshed and other illegal nets was prohibited, 
were then enforced with the utmost rigour of the law, and 
when any illegal nets were found on board any trawler, or 
in possession of any fisherman, the nets were seized, confis- 
cated, and invariably burned. Several instances are pre- 
served amongst the Admiralty records, formerly kept at 
Harwich. 
Immediately after the Restoration, Charles II. and his 
ministers of state directed special attention to this question. 
The mesh of the trawl-net was regulated and fixed at 
various standards. 
From the time of James II. to the accession of Queen 
Anne, somewhat similar regulations were enforced, and the 
great increase in the number of trawlers upon the English 
coast at this time, combined with the quantity of fish they 
caught, proves the wisdom of our ancestors in adhering 
to the due observance of those salutary measures, and, 
what was of more importance, the vessels had not to pro- 
ceed far out to sea, and in a comparatively short time 
returned to port laden with good catches. The wanton 
destruction of immature fish, which we now see on many 
parts of our coast every time the trawl-net is heaved on 
deck, was utterly unknown in those days, and the abuses 
