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marketable; also in one and the same area in those months in which the densest shoals of 

 plaice are met with, as in the spring months from April to June, and in the autumn 

 months of September and October. As soon as the loss in marketable value of the 

 catch in a certain area at a certain time reaches a given point, for instance 20 to 

 30 °/o or more, then fishing in such area and at such time will become unprofitable, 

 and the fishermen will find it better to turn their attention to other and more paying 

 grounds. 



The result of MasTERMAN'S investigations is that of the four lengtlis, 20, 23, 26 

 and 29 cm., with which his calculations have been made, a size-limit of 26 cm. would 

 cause such loss to the trawlers tliat it would be unprofitable for them to work the true 

 young-fish areas, viz: A 2, A3, B4, and a part of Bs, especially during the spring and 

 autumn months. And those trawlers in particular, which, sailing chiefly from London, 

 carry on plaice fishing on the young-fish grounds as their chief industry, and cause 

 great destruction among the young plaice, would no longer be able to make any profit- 

 able catch. The same end would naturally be even better attained by a higher size- 

 limit than 26 cm., for instance 29 cm., but a size-limit of 29 cm. would cause too heavy 

 a loss in plaice on other grounds than the young-fish areas, and must therefore be 

 considered as too high. A size-limit of 20 cm. on the other hand, would be far too 

 small, as it would scarcely be calculated to deter the fishermen from working the young- 

 fish grounds. A limit ol 23 cm. is also too low, and would at the outside only render 

 fishing in Areas A 2 and As unprofitable in spring and autumn. 



Similar investigations to those in England have hitherto only been carried out on 

 a very small scale in other countries. As far as it has been done in Germany, the 

 results seem to show that a size-limit of 23 cm. would only exceptionally render fishing 

 in A,i and B4 unprofitable, and only when the steamers wanted to fish especially the 

 localised shoals of young fish in the spring and autumn months. A size-limit of 26 

 cm. would probably render steam trawling in Area As unprofitable for most months of 

 the year (with the exception of the winter, which is always a poor time for plaice in 

 trawling), and also in a great part of B4, where the great shoals of young fish occur. 



As regards Area A2, which is chiefly fished by Holland, no corresponding investi- 

 gations have unfortunately been carried out. As however the Dutch fishermen do not 

 observe any size-limit, and take and consume much smaller plaice than the German or 

 the English, we can with a fair degree of certainty presume that a size-limit as low as 

 23 cm. would render this Area A 2 unprofitable for trawling, especially for the steamers. 



With the small sailing vessels, chiefly German and Dutch, which fish for plaice off 

 the southern coasts of the North Sea in the areas As, B4, A2 and Bs, and bring their 

 catches of plaice alive to the market, conditions are somewhat different to those which 

 apply to the steamers and the large sailing vessels (smacks, etc.) which fish far out at 

 sea. For these small vessels, especially for the German, the plaice is the most impor- 

 tant and most valuable fish in their catch. They take on an average smaller plaice 

 than the steamers which fish farther out at sea, and the number of undersized plaice in 

 the.se catches is considerably larger. It is thus certain that a lower size-limit than that 

 required for the steamers would suffice to render the fishing of their present grounds 

 quite unprofitable for these sailing vessels; in any case, a size-limit of 26 cm. would 

 here have the same effect as a limit of 29 cm. for the steamers. But while the steamers 



