﻿Introduction. 



In the autumn 1891 I was commissioned by the Danish Home Depart- 

 ment, as Director of the Biological Station, to make investigations into the 

 conditions of our Flat-fishes and Flat-fish fisheries, in order to elucidate 

 and eventually to answer the following questions, on the basis of these 

 investigations, as far as the Danish Seas are concerned. 

 No. 1. Where, and to what extent, is any destruction going on of » im- 

 mature*, particularly unmarketable flat-fishes'? 

 No. 2. Which size limit ought to be fixed for flat-fishes that may be taken 



ashore? 

 No. 3. Is it desirable to give regulations fixing the size of the meshes of 

 the various sorts of fishing-gear, used for the catching of flat-fishes ? 

 No. 4. Is it considered serviceable to forbid trawl fishery for certain 



periods, at certain seasons and fishing-places'? 

 No. 5. How are such regulations to be formulated? 



The answers are briefly as follows: 

 Ad No. 1. Unmarketable flat-fishes are caught to a great extent in the Lim- 

 fjord and on the sea-shores of the northern Jutland, at the former 

 place with eel-handseines, at the latter with ammodytes-seines. How- 

 great the destruction is, depends very much on the discretion of the 

 fishermen. 



Real destruction of larger, though not sufficiently grown-up (»imma- 



ture«) flat-fishes is not known to take place to any considerable extent. 



Ad Nr. 2. Can be exactly decided only by experiments; it may be said, 



however, that the size limits scarcely ought to be under the following : 



For Plaice 8 inches to the base of the caudal fin, in the C'atte- 



gat rather 10 inches, and in the Limfjord probably 12 inches. 



