— 27 — 



over cm. long 50 — 55 — 60 — 65 — 70 



more than years 9 — 11 — 15 — 22 — — 



Percent of total i — 0.3 — o.i — o.oi — 0.0005 



It is certainly a point of interest and of great value for a correct view of the plaice 

 question, when we learn from this series, that only 25 "/o of the plaice in the English 

 landings from the whole of the North sea exceed an average age of 4 years, only lo^/o 

 being more than 5 years old, i. e. the earliest age at which the majority of female 

 plaice reach full maturity. Only 5 "/o are over 6 years old, only i "/o more than 9 years. 

 The oldest plaice in the North Sea reach, however, an age of more than 20 years, some- 

 times even over 30. 



If we review the information at hand with regard to the composition of the English 

 plaice landings from the North Sea, from the point of view of the practical plaice 

 question, we see that the capture of small and undersized plaice still plays a great part 

 in the English fishery. About one third of the total number, or one seventh of the 

 total weight of the landings are undersized plaice under 25 cm., while 63% in number 

 and 40 °/o in weight are small plaice under 29 cm. long. As the most prominent sizes 

 can be noted plaice of 24 to 38 cm. ; between these lie almost V4 of the total number, 

 or Vs of the total weight of all the landings. Expressed in commercial terms: The 

 small and medium sized plaice constitute the most important and determining factor of 

 the English plaice fishery in the North Sea. 



Landings of plaice in Germany. 



The German plaice fishery in the North Sea ranks only third or fourth in point of 

 extent and yield. The yield amounts in weight (see p. 15) to only about 7 "/o of the 

 whole plaice production of the North Sea, as against 64^/0 in England and lô^/o in 

 Holland: the yield of the Danish fishery is about equal to that of the German. 



Market measurements with a view to determining the size and composition of the 

 landings were instituted in Germany as early as 1904 and 1905, but were not carried out 

 to any great extent, or on scientific principles, until 1909. These German market measure- 

 ments are, as reliable indications of the composition of the landings, at least as valu- 

 able as the English measurements, if not more so, being equal to these in relative extent, 

 i. e., in the number of measurements in proportion to the quantity of the landings. 

 We are also, thanks to the equally high methodical value of the English and German 

 market measurements, in a position to make useful and instructive comparisons between 

 the results of both, the more so, as the German measurements are also divided accor- 

 ding to months and areas. 



The German plaice fishery in the North Sea extends over a much smaller district 

 than the English, and differs also considerably from same with regard to the methods 

 employed. Its field is chiefly the so-called southern and south-eastern North Sea, i. e. 

 the areas As, Bi, Cs, B5, together with small portions of Bs and Bi. The total 

 yield of the German plaice fishery can as an average for the 5 years 1905/09 be 

 estimated at about 3,400,000 kg. per annum, of which about 2,485,000 kg. or 73 "/o 

 are drawn from the North Sea (exclusive of Skagerak). Of these again 2,438,000 are 



4* 



