144 MARKETABLE BRITISH MARINE FISHES CHAI\ vi 



or net were compelled by law to declare the quantity of fish he 

 landed in the ordinary local measures, and his place of fishing, 

 the local officer could easily keep a record of all the fish landed, 

 and the number and character of the boats which landed it. 

 To take an example : we could ascertain from such a record 

 how many trawlers, steam and sail, fished on or near the Dogger 

 Bank in a given year, and so ascertain the whole quantity of 

 fish taken there, and the quantity per boat. In this way we 

 should have a real and certain knowledge of the condition of all 

 our principal fishing grounds. Hitherto Royal Commissions 

 and Parliamentary Committees have been appointed from time 

 to time to find such things out, and have necessarily failed to 

 do so. Statistics of the kind here recommended have already 

 been extensively collected by the Scottish Fishery Board, but 

 what is required is that the system should be made complete so 

 as to cover all boats and all fishing grounds. It may be 

 supposed that fishermen would not give true information about 

 the ground where they had been fishing, but every one who has 

 experience of fishery affairs knows that a competent man can 

 tell from the nature of the catch whether a statement made 

 as to its place of capture is approximately correct or not. Any 

 man, for instance, would be capable of distinguishing in his 

 returns between fish from the coast of Iceland and fish from 

 the neighbourhood of Heligoland, and this is the kind of 

 distinction which is required. 



