50 BRITISH SEA-FISHERIES 



little trustworthy evidence as to the existence either 

 of stereotyped spawning migrations or of very definite 

 breeding-grounds in the case of the chief food-fishes. 

 The great Lofoten cod-fishery in spring is based on 

 such a migration, as it is at this time of the year that 

 the cod approach the coast in dense shoals for 

 spawning purposes. During the summer, after the 

 spawning is over, the cod disappear northwards. 

 But with respect to the spawning habits of fishes in 

 the waters most frequented by British fishermen we 

 know little more than that the greater number of fish 

 spawn in relatively deep water and at some distance 

 from land. Light will doubtless be thrown upon this 

 problem by the international investigations now in 

 progress. The brilliant discovery by the Danish 

 investigators of immense numbers of the fry of the 

 common eel in the deep water of the Atlantic, west 

 of Ireland, and the absence of the eggs and fry from 

 the North Sea and Baltic, render it practically certain 

 that the countless hordes of eels which leave the 

 rivers of North Western Europe in autumn migrate to 

 the ocean for spawning purposes ; and, more remark- 

 able still, that the delicate young elvers which enter 

 the same streams in autumn have already overcome 

 the perils of their long return migration. 



Before considering the evidence for the existence of 

 a progressive impoverishment of the fishing-grounds, 

 it should be recorded that the Trawling Commission 

 of 1885 held that the increase of trawling had led to 

 a scarcity of fish in the inshore waters ; and that to 

 get good catches it was necessary to go farther to sea. 

 Eight years later, the Select Committee of 1893 held that 

 ' a considerable diminution [had] occurred among the 

 more valuable classes of flat-fish, especially among soles 

 and plaice'; and that of 1900 reported that ' the subject 

 of the diminution of the fish-supply is a very pressing- 

 one, and that the situation is going from bad to worse.' 



