﻿62 



Nor have I ever been able to believe in any want of small plaice: our 

 shores in the Cattegat teem with them, so that it is hard to imagine there 

 could be any more individuals than there are. Nay, everything seems t<> me 

 to indicate that it is not in the beginning, but in the middle and the end of the 

 life of the plaice, that we musl look for the injury; for it is hen- that man 

 interferes as a tnosl troublesome factor. 



It must be granted, however, that tilings are somewhat different perhaps 

 on the shores of (.Treat Britain; and of course it is quite necessary that there 

 are some fish which reach sexual maturity and are able to breed. But as 

 to this there is no danger for our races of small plaice; the present size limit 

 of 9 3 , inches (8 to the base of the caudal-fin) protects even many spawning 

 fishes. The object here is not to produce fish which arc ripe or spawning, 

 but fish of sufficient sise, fish that are sufficiently saleable. 



Both theories, the propagation- theory and the growth-theory, how y ever, 

 point towards the same practical measures, viz. protection of fish under a given 

 length. We shall in the next chapter sec how, just in our seas, there cam. be 

 well-founded hopes of beneficial results from such n protection. 



Resume: When the plaice-fisheries have decreased so much in our seas 

 i>i late years, we must look for the cause in the fact that the plaice are gene- 

 rally fished before they reach their full value per lb. in commerce — before 

 th'ey are sufficiently saleable. 



