5 
allowed to do what they liked. That being so, it was 
clearly an international matter, and one which alone could 
be brought to a satisfactory conclusion by an international 
conference—he did not mean such a conference as had 
taken place at the Exhibition, but a duly authorised con- 
ference such as took place at The Hague two years ago, a 
conference in which he was specially interested, and worked 
hard for many years to obtain. The Conference at the 
Hague was a most satisfactory one, and if anything was to 
be done to prevent the destruction of immature fish, it 
would possibly be done upon the same lines as upon that 
occasion. With regard to the destruction of immature fish, 
Mr. Jex, who had kindly consented to introduce the subject 
to the meeting, would point out what was going on in all 
directions ; he would probably refer to the size of the mesh 
of the nets used round the coasts of the United Kingdom, 
and the sizes of the fish brought into the market; but 
there was another point which he wished to mention, 
namely, that probably the scarcity of fish had arisen in a 
great measure from the extraordinarily increased demand. 
Fish was now sent to every.town throughout the king- 
dom by means of the railways and the parcels’ post, 
and he had learned on excellent authority that even 
through the Exhibition the demand for fish had pal- 
pably increased, no doubt owing to the cheap fish 
dining-room, in which an enormous quantity of fish had 
been consumed. Even Boards of Guardians were now 
giving fish dinners to the paupers once a week, which 
in itself would create an increased demand. No doubt 
the fishing-grounds had been fished to a most extra- 
ordinary extent, and owners had now to send their fleets 
and smacks to a distance which was never contemplated 
years ago. All he could say as regarded the Exhibition 
