234 BRITISH FISHERIES 



and shell-fishes were included in the official list. 

 Thus, lemon soles, witches, gurnards, skates and 

 rays, congers, and other fishes were lumped 

 together under the heading " fish not separately 

 distinguished." These are all fishes of consider- 

 able economic value. Similarly, mussels, cockles, 

 scallops, periwinkles, shrimps, and several kinds of 

 prawn were included under the heading of " other 

 shell-fish/' This has been perhaps the principal 

 defect of the old system, and is indeed very imper- 

 fectly remedied in the improved system which is 

 now being introduced. Again, in the case of sea- 

 fish, weight and value alone are considered, and no 

 regard is paid to the quantities of the same species 

 of fish, but of different sizes, which are constantly 

 landed. Thus, " cod " may be large cod or 

 codling ; haddock may be "large" or "small" ; 

 and a "box" of plaice may contain 50 to 1000 

 fish, while boxes of about 100 are always dis- 

 tinguished from boxes of about 250. But no 

 account whatever is taken in the official figures 

 of these differences in size, though the dif- 

 ferences in value may be very great. Another 

 defect, which has often been commented upon, is 

 so notable that it renders the Board's statistics of 

 very little value for most purposes. No account 

 is taken of the fishing ground from which the 

 fish have been obtained. In late years the area 

 exploited by British fishing boats has widened 

 enormously, and the fish now landed at Grimsby, 



