49 
zt ts undoubtedly possible that, by the use of tmproved 
engines, the destruction of fry might reach such a pitch 
as to bear a large instead of, as at present, an insignifi- 
cant ratio of the destruction effected by the natural 
enemtes of fish, and by condttions unfavorable to ther 
extstence, 
‘The existence of such a state of things, however, 
could only be determined by the examination of trust 
worthy statistics of the fisheries in question, extending 
over a considerable number of years. Should it ever be 
satisfactorily proved to have arisen, we conceive that the 
best remedial measure would be to place a restriction 
upon the size of the fish permitted to be brought 
ashore, and subject the possesser of fish below a certain 
specified size to penalties; but to avoid interfering 
with the implements of fishermen or with their methods 
of fishing. 
‘For the present, we advise that all Acts of Parlia- 
ment which profess to regulate or restrict the methods 
of fishing pursued inshore be repealed ; with the ex- 
ceptions, purely on grounds of police, of the local Act 
regulating pilchard fishing at St. Ives; and, for that 
part of Loch Fyne which lies above Otter Spit, of the 
Act prohibiting trawling for herrings in Scotland.” 
In 1878, fifteen years after the investigation by Prof. 
Huxley and his associates, a second commission was ap- 
pointed to inquire into (1) the use of the trawl net and 
the beam trawl in the English seas, and the territorial 
waters of England and Wales ; (2), into the use of the 
seine nets and the ground seine on the coast of 
Cornwall and elsewhere; and (3), into the alleged 
destruction of fry and spawn of sea fish in estuaries of 
rivers and bays by the above and other modes of fishing. 
This Commission, of which Mr. Frank Buckland was 
chairman, reached the same general conclusion in regard 
to the decrease in the supply of fish arising by means 
of fishing operations as did the previous Commission of 
