98 FISHERIES OF THE NORTH SEA 



At spawning time most fish migrate to 

 the land, but spawn at a sufficient distance 

 so that the eggs shall not be drifted by 

 winds or currents on to the land, but shall 

 be wafted during embryonic development 

 in such a direction that the larvae arrive 

 and undergo metamorphosis in shallow 

 water where they will find food in abun- 

 dance. This brings us to the ground where 

 greatest destruction by man takes place. 

 In these inshore regions the immature fish 

 are developing. As they grow to large 

 size, they migrate into deeper waters. 

 In these shallow bays and creeks the people 

 who take prawns and shrimps and other 

 small fish kill off at the same time countless 

 thousands of small fry, which left alone 

 might have had a chance of development 

 into good useful fish : this waste is more 

 apparent with those bottom fish, such as the 

 sole, turbot, and brill, high-priced varieties, 

 the fry of which are often destroyed daily 

 in millions by these wasteful methods of 

 fishing. The food value of prawns and 

 shrimps is negligible ; the methods adopted 

 for their capture depopulate the sea more 

 than does the steam trawler. The trawler 



