26 



not choking it, as was the case with the old style of net." 

 Mr. Walker in a letter to "Nature" (vol. XLV, p., 176) 

 states that in his experience in the estuary of the Dee the 

 shrimps are further inshore than the young fish and he 

 proposes that in that locality shrimping should only be 

 allowed within quarter of a mile of the shore. He further 

 recommends the formation of young fish preserves on 

 selected grounds along the shore by laying down large 

 boulders which would effectually prevent trawling on that 

 ground. This may possibly be worth doing in a few 

 special localities, but obviously cannot be generally adopted. 

 The use of the Shrimp trap, as used on the French coast, 

 at Croisic and elsewhere should be tried here ; and I am 

 inclined to think that Shrimp culture as detailed below 

 (p. 35), might be carried on with success in our estuaries 

 and if it proved remunerative, and was likely to give 

 employment to a number of the present Shrimpers, that 

 would make it easier to impose restrictions upon trawling 

 in areas where, and at such times as, young fish are known 

 to be present in large numbers. 



It is a much disputed question whether it is any ase 

 returning to the sea the young fish which have been 

 brought up in a trawl-net and are emptied on to the deck 

 in various stages of more or less exhausted vitality. If it 

 is the least use, if even a small proportion of them will 

 eventually recover, then very strict regulations should be 

 made and enforced compelling the men to return the young 

 fish to the sea at once. In a case like this where it must 

 be very difficult to be sure that regulations are being 

 strictly carried out it would be important to try and 

 educate public feeling amongst the men by teaching them 

 the vital necessity of letting the young fish have a chance 

 of growing to maturity. 



The Scottish Fishery Board have been endeavouring 



