1 78 NORTH SEA FISHERS AND FIGHTERS 



centres, regarding the destruction of immature fish in the 

 North Sea. Those researches had special reference to 

 the proposed closure of certain fishing-grounds, and to 

 the proposal to prohibit the sale of fish below a certain 

 size. On this point valuable evidence was placed by the 

 Association in 1893 before the Select Committee of the 

 House of Commons on Sea Fisheries. The Committee 

 in their report stated that they had had "the evidence 

 grounded on the observations of the scientific experts 

 employed by the Marine Biological Association, and by 

 the Scottish Fishery Board. Indeed, it may almost be 

 said that this is the first fishery inquiry in which the 

 more important complaints have been founded, not 

 merely on the statements and the ideas of rival classes of 

 fishermen, but upon facts and statistics." 



Amongst the practical investigations upon matters 

 directly connected with sea-fishing, which the Association 

 has carried out, are the following : 



(i) The reproduction and development of fishes, the 

 determination of the characters of egg, larva, and young 

 at all stages of growth, with experiments on the rearing 

 of fishes in captivity, and on their rate of growth in con- 

 finement and in the sea ; (2) The size at which maturity 

 is reached in different species ; the variations which this 

 relation undergoes in different localities ; the character- 

 istics of local races of fish ; (3) The food-supply and 

 sense organs of fishes, with experiments on their 

 methods of feeding, and on the manufacture and employ- 

 ment of artificial baits ; (4) The distribution of flat-fishes 

 at different stages of growth ; their migrations ; the 

 destruction of immature fish on particular grounds, or by 

 particular methods of fishing; (5) The natural history 



