12 



Fisheries Committee, does uot exist in the coastal waters 

 uuder their control. We have evidence which seems to 

 indicate that this fish is now becom^ing less abundant than 

 formerly on the West coast. The difficulty of securing 

 mature specimens in any quantity is mentioned above, 

 and there is reason to think that young plaice (1st and 

 2nd year tish) are also undergoing reduction in the in- 

 shore waters.* The remedial measures in these circum- 

 stances easiest of attainment appear to be: (1) Protection 

 of the young fish on the in-shore grounds ; (2) The im- 

 position of some suitable size limit; (3) A hatchery in 

 conjunction with some preserved area. Of these remedies 

 (1) is difhcult to secure, for although much evidence in 

 favour of the preservation of certain in-shore areas 

 frequented by young plaice has been obtained by the 

 Committee, powers to effect this have not been granted 

 them ; (2) requires legislation of which there is still no 

 immediate prospect. Hatching in conjunction with a 

 preserved area is therefore the enly (present) practicable 

 remedial measure, and this we have endeavoured to adopt 

 by making use of the Piel hatchery and the preserved 

 waters of the Fishery Board for Scotland in Luce Bay. 

 Such a measure obviously requires the co-operation of 

 two of the authorities concerned in the regulation of the 

 Irish Sea Fisheries — the Fishery Board for Scotland and 

 the Lancashire and Western Sea Fisheries Committee — 

 and this co-operation we have fortunately been able to 

 secure. To develop the method further will, however, 

 require an extension of the resources at our command 

 as far as the Piel hatchery is concerned. It is found to 

 be impossible to keep the adult fish in our small tanks 

 from one hatching season to another. An open air pond 

 on similar lines to the one at the Fishery Board for Scot- 



* See this Report, p. 80-2. 



