270 BRITISH FISHERIES 



past. It would take far too long to examine the 

 first two at length, but it is the last which is 

 commonly regarded as the great cause of fisheries 

 impoverishment, and I propose considering it 

 later on in some detail. 



It is well to remember that we have been discuss- 

 ing fisheries impoverishment in relation to certain 

 species of fish only. Soles, turbot, and plaice have 

 undoubtedly suffered through the operation of the 

 causes to which I have referred ; but it is no less 

 clear that there are a number of other species of fish 

 with regard to the supply of which we can trace 

 no continued decrease. Such fish are the herring, 

 the cod, whiting, haddock, and some others. In 

 certain places the abundance of these fishes may 

 undergo large fluctuation, but in such cases ex- 

 perience has usually shown that such changes 

 are temporary. When we speak, then, of the 

 impoverishment of the national fisheries, it should 

 be remembered that we refer only to the reduction 

 in the general fish-supply on the fishing grounds 

 which results from the decreased abundance of the 

 flat fishes only. 



