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as a rule, can live when they are thrown out again, after they have been caught 

 in the fishing-gear commonly used. This, it will be remembered, was also a 

 necessary condition, if on the whole we would think of effectively carrying 

 through the regulations as to the size of the meshes ; this condition then we 

 can in no way avoid. I shall try, therefore, to elucidate it as clearly as I can. 



As I have said already, nearly all flat-fish individuals are by the various 

 fishing methods caught alive; alive they are laid on the deck of the large ves- 

 sels or on the bottom of the smaller open boats. If now a greater number oj 

 too small fish are seen in the take, is it possible then to have them thrown 

 out before they suffer too much, i. e. before they become incapable of living? 



Let us look first at the method which gives the greatest take: the cutter- 

 fishery with plaice-seine in the Cattegat. 



When the seine has been heaved home, the contents of it are lifted up 

 on the deck, and the take spread over the same; 10 — 20 — 100 scores of flat- 

 fish — or more — may be in such a haul. Now the sorting commences. All 

 the large plaice are to be placed in the pond, and if there are any Turbots 

 or other valuable fish among them they must be placed apart also; what is 

 left is a greater or smaller number of fish under the size limit which conse- 

 quently must be thrown overboard. 



How is the condition of these fish after the sorting? Two moments are 

 here of some importance: 1) how long time does the sorting last? 2) at which 

 season does it occur? 



Such a sorting need not last more than half an hour or three quarters, 

 and, as a rule, it lasts only some few minutes when the men are expert. 

 Within such lengths of time the plaice will easily preserve their vitality, pro- 

 vided the sorting is not undertaken on the very hot days, of which however 

 we have but a few, generally in July and August, but which scarcely occur 

 every year; on such very hot days with bright sunshine the plaice Mali soon 

 be exhausted by lying on the deck. 



I have made some experiments with flat-fishes, to see how long they can 

 endure lying on the deck without dying. In the month of March 1892 a 

 number of little plaice and common dabs were fished onboard the »Hauch«. 

 They were laid on the deck in the sunshine, and while the little plaice (2 — 4 

 inches) could live for several (up till 4) hours, the little dabs died very 

 quickly. — In the end of May a number (270) of little plaice (3 — 5 inches) 

 were laid on the deck onboard the »Hav0rn«. They lay in 25 minutes after 

 which time they were placed in salt water and proved to be alive all of them. 

 There is no doubt that on very hot days the time in which the fish can bear 



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