APPENDIX II 



365 



narrow ridges running north and south, and rising to 11 or 12 fathoms 

 from the surface. One of these is marked on the chart as the Brown 

 Ridge, and they may be called the Brown Ridges. 



The drift-net fisheries are prosecuted on the largest scale by Scotch 

 boats, Yarmouth and Lowestoft boats, and boats belonging to Mount's 

 Bay and Ph-mouth. There are drift-net boats at a very large number of 

 ports all round the coast, but those of the districts mentioned carry on 

 the fishing in the regions where it is most productive, not merely in the 

 neighbourhood of their own ports. The principal herring fishery is that 

 carried on in spring, summer, and autumn, on the north and east of 

 Scotland, and off the east coast of England. A considerable number of 

 English, Scotch, and Manx boats also take part in the herring fishery 

 off the east coast of Ireland. Mackerel fishing is principally carried on 

 off the south coast of Ireland, Mounts Bay, and the coast of Devon and 

 Cornwall in the earlier months of the year, and a large number of boats 

 from Lowestoft resort thither to take part in it. In September and 

 October as well as in May and June Lowestoft boats fish mackerel off 

 their own coast. The pilchard fishery is carried on entirely by Devon 

 and Cornish boats off the south-west coast of England. 



Trawling is extensively carried on within the 50-fathom line off the 

 south coast of Cornwall and in the Bristol Channel. Large numbers of 

 sailing trawlers belonging to Plymouth and Brixham use these grounds. 

 The Mounts Bay grounds are visited chiefly in spring and summer, and 

 the same is true of the grounds off the north coast of Cornwall. These 

 grounds yield soles, turbot, brill, lemon dabs, plaice, hake, skates, and 

 rays, John dories, tubs, sea bream, and other southern species, but 

 haddocks are only occasionally taken and cod are not plentiful. 



The eastern part of the Channel is less important as a trawling 

 ground. The southern part of the North Sea is worked chiefly by sail- 

 ing vessels belonging to Lowestoft and Ramsgate. These grounds 

 resemble in their produce the grounds of the Channel, and differ con- 

 siderably from the more northern and deeper parts of the North Sea. 

 Cod and haddock are scarce ; plaice are fairly plentiful, but small, the 

 majority from 11 to 13 inches long, and the majority at the latter length 

 mature ; soles are fairly plentiful, turbot and brill not uncommon ; lemon 

 dabs are scarce ; common dabs and whiting are abundant, grey gurnard 

 are plentiful, and also tubs or latchets ; weevers, the larger and the 

 smaller species are very abundant on the Brown Ridges ; rays and skate 

 are fairly plentiful. 



In the northern part of the North Sea, excluding the Eastern 

 Grounds, the staple produce of the trawl always consists of haddock 

 and plaice. Without these two kinds of fish, especially the former, the 

 enormous fleets of steam-trawlers which now range these waters could 



