25 



Aug. 13. Horse Ch. Shrimp trawl out 1J hrs. 



4616 immature food fishes to 5 qts. of shrimps. 

 Aug. '23. Horse Ch. Shrimp trawl out 2 hrs. 



6827 immature food fishes to 5 qts. of shrimps. 

 Aug. 25. Horse Ch. Shrimp trawl out 1^ hrs. 



5802 immature food fishes to 2 qts. of shrimps. 

 Feb. 4. Blackpool closed ground. Shank net out ^ hr. 

 1199 immature food fishes to 3| qts. of shrimps. 



Altogether over the months from Feb. to Aug., Mr. 

 Dawson's statistics show that the number of immature 

 fish to 1 qt. of shrimps caught by means of the shrimp 

 trawl on our ordinary shrimping grounds varies from 87 

 to 687, the average being 310. 



Various suggestions have already been made as to a 

 remedy for this most unfortunate and wasteful state of 

 affairs. It has been proposed that the shrimp net should 

 have at its extremity a light wooden frame bearing a wire 

 sieve with long narrow meshes of such a size as would 

 allow the small flat-fish to wriggle through while keeping 

 back the full grown shrimps. This might do if it could 

 be kept clear, but possibly it might be liable to get choked 

 up and so do little good. Mr. Dawson has devised a 

 modified form of shank net with a horizontal bar about 3 

 ins. off the bottom to which the lower part of the net is 

 attached. The theory is that as the shank frame comes 

 along and disturbs the bottom the shrimps will spring 

 upwards above the level of the bar and so be caught, while 

 the young fish will swim along nearer the ground and so 

 escape under the bar. Mr. Dawson has had this form of 

 shank net made and has used it in this district and he 

 reports that it " takes a much less number of young sea- 

 fish and quite as many shrimps as the old form. In fact, 

 on dirty ground more shrimps were taken, owing to a large 

 proportion of the debris passing underneath the net and 



