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were three different classes of fish from the sea which were 

 mostly made use of by man. There were the herrings, the 

 gregarious form, which were mostly found near the surface, 

 and with them might be classed the mackerel and the 

 pilchard, and then there were the deep sea form of the cod 

 and ling which had been mentioned, the devourers of the 

 herring, and also the ground fishes, such as the turbot, sole, 

 &c. Some people talked about the balance of nature, and 

 said no law should be passed with reference to these 

 fisheries, but the question was whether by passing no laws 

 they were not destroying the balance of nature. They per- 

 mitted the cod and these voracious fishes to be captured in 

 large quantities, and these were the very fish which, as the 

 Chairman informed them, ate the herring. Might it not be 

 that if, as many fishermen told them (though it was denied 

 on some hands, as far as he had seen, it appeared to be 

 correct), the inshore fisheries were decreasing, the quantity 

 of cod was decreased, and so the fish were destroyed which 

 were catching the herring, and thus the herring might be 

 increasing in consequence of the destruction of the cod 

 fisheries. Then they were told that in consequence of the 

 legislation the poor fishermen suffered on one portion of 

 the coast of Scotland and not on the other, but if they 

 turned to the blue book issued by Messrs. Buckland and 

 Walpole it would be found that although these regulations 

 were in existence they were never carried out ; that no 

 regulations ever passed by man had ever had any effect 

 on the herring fisheries. Then they were told that the 

 herrings were inexhaustible. They found the herrings 

 migrating from place to place, and in so doing they dis- 

 appeared entirely from one country and appeared in 

 another. If the cod fisheries were destroyed and the 

 herrings migrated, where would the fisheries be ? He had 



