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Dr. Fulton in Scotland says that the smallest mature milters are c. HVj inches 

 in the German Sea, and will fix the size limit accordingly. There is conse- 

 quently a considerable difference in these authors' opinions on this matter, 

 the reason of which is that one will base the size limit of all ripe fish on 

 the milters, the other wants the spawners to be taken into consideration as 

 well, and then again — are we to base the size limit on the smallest 

 spawner we can find, or are we to take the average size? The object of the 

 argument, as set forth in foreign literature, is, in a few words, to show that 

 we must enable the fish to spawn in greater multitudes than formerly in or- 

 der to augment their numbers, it being supposed that the fishery has pre- 

 vented them from doing so; therefore the fish must be protected till it 

 reaches maturity, or till it has spawned once. 



As above mentioned, my view on the matter is somewhat different, 

 viz.: There is no doubt that, owing to the fishing, there is not so rich or 

 large a stock of fish as formerly ; but it is not the number of young fish 

 which is too small. What we have to do is to prevent that the fish are taken 

 so small (young) as they now are, and therefore I want a minimum size to 

 be fixed. I will not deny that it is possible to fish up a species of fish to 

 such a degree that there are not left individuals enough for the breeding 

 of them, but I believe that we are far from that point with the plaice. 

 Were that really to happen, then of course it would be necessary to think 

 of multiplying the fish. 



Owing to our different views on what must be done in order to aug- 

 ment the productiveness of the plaice, my opinions on » artificial hatchings 

 are also somewhat different from those of the Englishmen: I mean (nearly 

 as the Germans) that it will get no influence at all on the plaice in the 

 Cattegat if carried on in the usual way, i. e. without a subsequent rearing 

 of the larvee, while the Englishmen do not look upon this as quite im- 

 possible. 



But whether now we hold one theory or the other: the propagation theory 

 or the growth theory, the practical measures we have to take will be nearly 

 the same, viz. the fixing of a size limit. For the Cattegat, according to the 

 former theory, this would be c. 12 1 /, inches, or 11 to the base of the caudal 

 fin, according to the latter probably still larger, but to begin with we might 

 very well take a smaller size limit, as further developed above *). 



These two theories, however, will not give so identical results for all species of 

 fishes; had we spoken of the eel (Anguilla vulgaris) for instance, a fish which is 



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