DESTRUCTION OF IMMATURE FISH 297 



The prospects of international treatment of the 

 question became appreciably better, one reason for 

 this being the growing recognition in Germany of 

 the fact of the depletion (so far as certain classes of 

 fish are concerned) of the North Sea area, 1 and the 

 other being that the international investigation of 

 the North European fishing grounds was directing 

 very general attention abroad to the condition of 

 the fishing industry. Finally, the Board of Agri- 

 culture and Fisheries had obtained statistics bearing 

 closely on the question of the destruction of under- 

 sized fishes in the North Sea. It was shown that 

 a very considerable fishery for small plaice was 

 going on in the seas round Helgoland ; that the 

 bulk of this fish was caught principally from March 

 to October. In the year 1903 extensive statistics 

 were collected by the officers of the Board. These 

 were obtained from steam " carriers " which took 

 the fish from certain fleets fishing in the North Sea 

 and landed them at Billingsgate Market. These 

 figures showed that 



In 1902-3, 229,076 cwts. of plaice were landed in 

 London, and that 173,693 cwts. of 

 these were caught in the seas round 

 Helgoland. 



In 1902, 82 per cent, by weight were " small," and 

 71 per cent, in value were small. 



In 1903, 67 per cent, by weight were small, and 

 56 per cent, in value were small. 



1 Henking, Mittheilungen deutschen See- Fischer ei- Vereins, No. i, 

 1901 (extracted in Report of Select Committee on Sea-fisheries Bill, 

 1904, p. 191). 



