price of plaice, as of all sea fish, has for some years past continually increased. It is 

 moreover evident, that the entirely useless destruction of many millions of quite young 

 plaice, of from 12 to 18 cm. in length, which is inseparable from trawl fishing, and 

 which takes place regularly every year in the shallower waters of the North Sea down 

 to a depth of 40 metres, especially in the summer months, is, from an industrial point 

 of view, an in every respect harmful and indefensible attribute of our modern Fishery in 

 the North Sea. These young fish, which have no marketable value, are taken in the 

 trawl, brought to the surface dead, and uselessly thrown overboard again — and this 

 in such quantities, that they frequently represent from three to four times the whole 

 amount of the other plaice taken in the haul — a meaningless waste of an essen- 

 tial part of the stock of plaice in the sea. 



The need of protective measures to guard against such wanton destruction of the 

 younger stages of plaice in the sea, and the necessity of some reasonable regulation of 

 the plaice fishery as a whole, is thus so evident, that both the Governments of the 

 countries bordering on the North Sea and their scientific advisers, as well as the fisher- 

 men themselves, have for some years past been actively considering the question of 

 possible protective measures. In this regard it was soon agreed i) that owing to the 

 international character of North Sea fishing, effectual protective measures could only be 

 brought about by means of international co-operation, and 2) that general protective 

 measures, as for instance the prohibition of certain kinds of trawl fishing, either entirely 

 or within certain areas or at certain times, or the marking out of international closed 

 districts in the North Sea etc. would scarcely be practicable, and that it would be better 

 to restrict any legislation on the matter to mdividual protective measures, i. e., for 

 single species of fish and single size-classes of same; in the case of the plaice, for in- 

 stance, for all young fish under a certain size (size-limit), e. g. of 25 cm. in 

 length. Such protective measures have, as is well known, already been introduced by 

 territorial legislation in certain of the countries bordering on the North Sea for some 

 time, prohibiting not only the sale, but also the landing of plaice under a certain size- 

 hmit — in Germany and Belgium for instance 18 cm.; in Denmark 25.6 cm. No 

 legal size limit exists in England, but in practice a limit of 18 to 20 cm. is by mutual 

 agreement observed by the fishermen themselves. 



It is obvious that such prohibition as to landing and sale of undersized fish must, 

 if it is international, observe the same size-limit for all the countries bordering on the 

 North Sea. And it is equally evident, that the real object of such international protec- 

 tive legislation can only be attained when such undersized plaice which may no longer 

 be brought to land are also actually spared, i. e. either not caught at all, or, when 

 caught, are returned alive and unscathed to the sea. Whether, and to what extent this 

 is possible, depends partly upon the nature and method of the bottom fishing for plaice, 

 and partly upon the height of the size-limit. Complete prevention of the capture of 

 undersized fish would only be possible by means of very wide-meshed nets, and a very 

 low size-limit, and would be practically unrealisable. The question is therefore, how 

 far the undersized fish caught can be returned unharmed to the water. By the Danish 

 method of plaice fishing, with the wide meshed "Snurrevaad'\ which is worked with quite 

 short hauls, and by which almost all the Danish catches from the North Sea are taken, 

 this will probably be possible for all the undersized plaice; also for a considerable num- 



