168 THE PLAICE. 



circumstances render it worth their while so to do. The 

 greater part of the fish supply of Plymouth having been caught 

 in sight of my residence on the confines of Devon and Corn- 

 wall, I have had constant opportunities of seeing, from the cliffs 

 as well as from the sea, these operations in progress amongst the 

 passing vessels. It is a great pity that our legislators are not 

 more qualified by their own experience to deal with our fisheries, 

 as important evidence respecting them is frequently suppressed, 

 and that given before Commissions so cooked as not to afford 

 any means of arriving at the truth. That the shallows of the 

 shore are the nurseries of the small fish is constantly proved by 

 the quantity of small Plaice, Soles, Turbot, &c., caught when 

 shrimping in the sand-pools on every strand. I have taken 

 numbers myself in these situations, allowing them to escape by 

 inverting the net. In a trawl this is impossible, as it is dragged 

 long distances, and the fish are killed, the whole mass not un- 

 frequently being churned up, so to speak, into a kind of paste. 

 The destruction permitted in this way is something frightful to 

 contemplate, and much is caught and sold as manure which, if 

 allowed to live and grow, would tend to make up for the de- 

 struction of fish-life always in progress. 



The destruction in river-seining has also been great, as it is 

 the habit to capsize the bunt of the net, and leave quantities of 

 young fish to die in the sun. It is expected that reservations of 

 portions of bays will be made shortly, as nurseries or breeding 

 grounds. 



THE PLAICE. 



(Platessa vulgaris. ) 



Large quantities of Plaice are taken with the trawl, also with 

 the trot or spiller, consisting of a Whiting-line and hooks fig. 63, 

 No. 10, p. 2 1 1, on a double thread snood of fine twine laid up with 

 twisting machine ; single twine will not answer as well, being 

 more liable to foul. Occasionally they are caught with hand- 

 lines, and where they are very plentiful may be fished for in a 

 similar manner to that employed for Dabs ; best baits, Lugs 

 and large Rag-Worms. Small Plaice, Dabs, Flounders, and 

 Freshwater Eels may be taken from off most piers on the coast 



