6 
was, that he confidently hoped there were inventions 
which had been exhibited which would enable the owners 
to prosecute their fisheries at a far greater distance 
than they contemplated before, and in that way the 
supply might be kept up. He alluded especially to the 
adoption of steam. The Executive Committee at the 
outset, when they framed their classification, thought it 
was most important that a special prize should be given 
for the best trawl net for preventing the destruction of 
immature fish, and though the report of the Jurors in con- 
nection with those exhibits had not yet been made public, 
he had had an opportunity of reading it, and he regretted 
to say that the Jurors could not find any exhibit in the 
Exhibition which was worthy of the special prize that the 
Committee offered. One point which had struck him, as 
regards this great question, was that it might be found by 
an International Conference, or by the Legislature, that a 
move in the right direction would be to pass a law pro- 
hibiting the sale of immature fish. He did not wish to 
express an opinion strongly one way or the other, but it 
was a point which is worthy of consideration. If the smack 
owners sent small fish up to market, whether it was to 
Billingsgate, Birmingham, Manchester, or anywhere else, 
and they found that the sale of small fish would not be 
allowed, then he felt confident that they would at once 
come to the conclusion that it was not worth their while to 
pay the excessively high railway rates which they had to 
pay, and have their fish confiscated. He had very much 
pleasure in calling upon Mr. Jex to introduce the subject 
of the destruction of immature fish. 
Mr. JEX said this was a vast and important subject, not 
only to English fishermen, but to all nations of the world. 
Immature fish were being destroyed, not only by British 
