﻿Chapter III. 



How can we add to the yearly profit of our flat-fish 

 fisheries east of the Skaw? 



By preventing abuses of the single individuals of the 

 valuable species of flat-fish under given sizes (lengths). 



When we speak of prohibiting the landing or selling of fish under a 

 size limit in order to protect the stock of fish, the first question will be: Is 

 it really practicable to cut the stock of fish after such a fixed line? Are we 

 not obliged simply to take what we get in the fishing-gear? 



I shall here look at the question apart from the difficulties which might 

 perhaps arise from the international character of the greater part of the Catte- 

 gat, and regard it from a Danish point of view only. 



The plaice-fishery east of the Skaw is for the greater part carried on 

 as a special fishery, i. e. with fishing-gear especially constructed for it, either 

 seines or gill-nets the size of whose meshes is intended for plaice. At the 

 same time other fishes are also accidentally caught in this fishing-gear, viz. 

 the other flat-fishes, cod, lump-sucker, etc. 



Plaice are caught, however, in other ways too, particularly in our smal- 

 ler seas, viz. with hooks, especially adapted for plaice and baited with worms 

 (Arenicola), for instance in the Lesser Belt. These are the sorts of fishing- 

 tackle particularly used for plaice fishery , which are of an} T greater import. 



The plaice is caught, moreover, in fishing-gear, not particularly adapted 

 for it, for instance sole-seines (the Cattegat), haddock-seines (the Skaw — Aalbask), 

 (ground-seines), eel-handseines (the Limfjord), to a veiy slight degree also eel- 

 trawl seines and several other sorts of seines (herring-seines, deep-seines 



