88 FISHERIES OF THE NORTH SEA 



are perfected there will be no reason why 

 the increase should not continue at a much 

 greater rate. 



In the home fisheries the trawler has 

 not decreased appreciably the quantity of 

 round fish (i.e. fish like the herring, 

 haddock, cod-fish, mackerel, whiting), for 

 we can readily see that the immature 

 specimens of these torpedo-like fish can 

 get away through the meshes of the net ; 

 with flat fish, such as plaice, turbot, sole, 

 brill, the smaller fry, being flat and wide, 

 do not pass through the meshes, and there 

 is little doubt that here trawling has caused 

 a great diminution in the quantity. (This 

 is especially marked among halibut ; this 

 fine fish is now practically extinct in the 

 North Sea.) Banks 'which once swarmed 

 with these valuable edible fish have now 

 to be -trawled carefully to obtain a profit- 

 able catch in spite of the high prices which 

 their scarcity has produced on the market. 

 Scientific breeding and protection are re- 

 quired to re-stock the grounds. The cost 

 of conveying the live immature fish from 

 the inlets of Denmark on to the North Sea 

 banks should not be very great if done on 



