291 



bers of this Conference offered us a sound and well- 

 needed warning, when he said he was equally averse to sea 

 fishery laws which had existed for centuries being summarily 

 abolished without, as it appeared to him, a due investigation 

 and exhaustive inquiry having been first made into the 

 true condition of the fisheries, fishermen, and all connected 

 therewith. 



Whilst experience would seem to point out that we 

 must either give protection to our fishes, or replace in our 

 waters by artificial means a number sufficient to keep up 

 the supply. We may be doing an injury in our endeavour 

 to effect good, for suppose no soles below a certain size were 

 permitted to be captured, the useless little sole, Solea 

 minuta, which rarely exceeds 3j inches in length, would 

 escape destruction. By preserving it we may be protecting 

 a form which consumes the identical food as its relative 

 the more valuable common sole (S. vuigaris), and in this 

 manner permit it to devour what would otherwise form the 

 food of its more valuable relative. In fact, we see the 

 boar fish (Caprosaper) first recorded as British in 1825, and 

 considered useless as food, has now become so abundant in 

 places as to prove a perfect pest ; the trawlers along the 

 south-west coast having been obliged to change their 

 ground in order to get out of their way. Such immense 

 numbers sometimes obtain entrance into the trawl, that 

 holes have to be cut in order to allow them to escape, 

 as it has been found almost impossible to lift such a 

 bulk on deck without carrying away the gear. 



One argument adduced against legislating in fisheries 

 hardly coincides with the lessons we learn when investi- 

 gating the food of the finny tribes. We are told that legis- 

 lation would be interfering with the " balance of nature," 

 which if left alone would surely eventuate in the " survival of 



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