SEA FISHERIES 141 



cause of the impoverishment of the sea. The 

 destruction is enormous. In the winter of 1882-3 

 it was estimated that in the Firth of Forth, the 

 Firth of Tay, and the Moray Firth 143 millions 

 of young herrings, and a much greater quantity 

 of sprats were captured. They were mostly sold 

 as manure. Yet the herring does not decrease ; 

 it is the flat-fish that suffers most, the plaice 

 and the sole. 



In 1896, 368 tons of small fish were seized by 

 the Fishmongers' Company at Billingsgate ; in 

 1897, 143 tons. These were sold as manure or 

 destroyed. In the Port of Grimsby, during the 

 year April, 1893, to March, 1894, Holt estimates 

 that whilst over seven million mature plaice 

 were landed, over nine million plaice not sexually 

 mature were brought to port ; or, taking the trade 

 distinction between " small " and " large " fish, 

 six million odd plaice under 13 inches in length 

 were landed, as opposed to nine million over 

 13 inches. As many as 10,407 young plaice have 

 been taken from a single drag of a shrimp trawl. 

 These are but a few instances, which might be 

 indefinitely multiplied, of the great destruction 

 which is going on amongst the young of our 

 more valued food fishes. The questions they 



