i8o NORTH SEA FISHERS AND FIGHTERS 



1489. This apparatus is known as the commercial gear ; 

 small gear included various forms of trawls and other 

 tow-nets, as well as dredges, and with these a total of 

 1513 hauls was made. With the Association's steamer 

 Oithona, of 28 tons and 20 horse-power, the Wash, 

 Bridlington Bay, the Suffolk bays and estuaries, and the 

 mouth of the Thames were fished, and altogether from 

 this vessel 102 hauls were made in the North Sea. 



A remarkable feature of the work that was carried 

 out was the marking of fish, in order to trace their 

 migrations and growth. Living fish, mostly plaice, were 

 marked with numbered labels of different kinds (brass 

 discs, bone buttons, vulcanite studs, etc.) and were set 

 free in various parts of the North Sea. Plaice and other 

 flat fish were marked by means of discs or studs fastened 

 near the edge of the body ; skates and rays were marked 

 with brass labels on the wings ; codfish, haddock, and 

 latchet were marked by means of a silver or vulcanite 

 label attached to one of the gill-covers of the fish, or 

 near the back fins. Rewards were paid for marked fish 

 as follows : For the fish and label complete, with infor- 

 mation as to place and date of capture, 2s. ; for the label 

 alone, with the same information, is. ; for the label 

 alone, without information, 6d. In addition to the 

 reward the market price was paid in the case of valuable 

 fishes. These rewards are still given by the Board of 

 Agriculture and Fisheries. 



These experiments by the Association resulted in the 

 marking and liberation of 16,104 plaice, 713 soles, and 

 552 other fish; of which 4605 (28 per cent.) plaice, 57 

 (8 per cent.) soles, and 113 (20 per cent.) other fish were 

 recovered. The object of the markings after March 



