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lions. The writer in the ''Contemporary Review" to whom I 

 haive previously referred, mentions facts in reference to the 

 turbo't which it may be of interest to quote here. He says : 

 "As spring advances turbots leave the O'uter depths of the 

 English Channel and move towards the land for the purpose 

 of spawning. This interesting work is generally accom- 

 plished within the limits of some three, four, or fivo miles 

 from the shore, the female shedding from five tO' fifteen mil- 

 lions of eggs, so that it must be at once seen that as the turbot 

 is one of the most productive of creatures, it ought to be one 

 of the most plentiful fishes on the coasts. But note what 

 follows. By July young turbots about half ain inch in 

 diameter may be found on the surface of the sea making their 

 first journey towards the land. This effort takes them a 

 month or six weeks to accomplish, their home being, for the 

 first twelve mo'uths of life, on the sea bottom within a hun- 

 dred yards of the shore. But the crossing of this narrow 

 strip of sea brings fearful results to' these little o^nes. The 

 destruction of Napoleon's hosts fleeing from their enemies 

 across the frozen Steppes of Russia will not compare with 

 the yearly losses sustained by these innocentsi from the horrid 

 beaks of the gulls. History tells us th© remnant left of th© 

 former was about one in a hundred of that wretched army, 

 whereas I question if of th© latter ther© are left so much as 

 one in a million of these valuable creatures. And the result 

 of their having to run the gauntlet is that, instead of being 

 one of the most numerous fishes on th© coast, this ordeal has 

 brought them down to be about the least of all our food 

 fishes.'' The same writer goes on toi point out that the 

 Conger eel also produces from five to' fifteen million eggs, but, 

 inasmuch as the young pass through th© ©arly stages of their 

 life on th© sea bottom among rocks and seaweed, and are, 

 therefore, not exposed to th© same dangers as the turbots, 

 they ar© among th© most numerous fish on the British coasts. 



It has been already said that very littl© is known of the 

 life history of Australian fish, yet th© statement will bear 

 repetition that this is the first thing to b© carefully studied 

 if remedial measures are to be effective. In my address two 

 3'-ear9 ago I spoke of statements mad© by fishermen at En- 

 counter Bay to the effect that in 1901, when th© barracoota 

 were abundant on the coast, they had observed enormous 

 numbers of minute fish near the surface of the water, and 

 these were being devoured in myriads both by gulls and 

 barracoota, the latter being full of them. What these small 

 creatures were they did not know, and probably did not care. 

 It would have been a matter of much interest and quite 



