a9) 
re) 
trawl do not necessarily die. It will be seen by reference 
to the hauls quoted on pp. 42-3 that a few large fish are 
generally taken. These are always alive when brought 
up from a drag of moderate duration, and if immediately 
thrown back into the sea will most probably survive. We 
refer to plaice, soles and dabs over 8 inches in length. 
Flat fish from 5 to 8 inches are not so hardy, but many of 
these are alive when the “net is fished,’ and probably 
recover when put back into the sea. The vitality experi- 
ments made by Mr. Dawson* and others in our district 
have shown that quite a large proportion of such fish 
recover when taken from the contents of the net and 
immediately put into a tub containing running sea water. 
But the flat fish under 5 inches long are im a worse case, 
and the greater number of these are probably really 
destroyed. They are small, and in the process of “ sorting 
the catch,” all the larger animals (large fish, crabs, star- 
fish) are thrown overboard first, so that small flat fishes 
have to lie on the deck for a longer period than the others. 
Small round fish, whiting, haddock and cod of less than 
5 inches long are almost always dead when the contents of 
the net are emptied on the deck. The larger round fishes 
may be alive, but they seem to be less hardy than the flat 
fishes. 
Of course the mortality among the fishes caught in the 
shrimp trawl must depend to a very great extent on the 
care of the fishermen in sorting the catch, on the facility 
with which the net can be hauled, on the duration of the 
drag, and on the temperature ; in warm weather the water 
adhering to the gills is more easily evaporated and 
contains less dissolyed air. It is to the interest of 
the fishermen to sort the catch quickly, and get the 
* Lancashire Sea Fisheries Laboratory Reports for 1898, (p. 23) and 
1894, (p. 30). 
i 
