SEIiECT COMMITTEE ON TPIE SEA FISHERIES BILL. 



31 



4 March 1904. J 



Professor D'Abcy W. Thompson, c.a. 



[Continued. 



Ghairnmn — continued 

 22-6 per cent, were dead, and of the flat fish only 

 3-8 per cent, were dead. The death rate among 

 plaice, of which more than 4,000 were taken, 

 was only 0-12 per cent., or 12 fish in 10,000. We 

 trawled yesterday morning, in order to get a fresh 

 and recent experience, outside the Firth of 

 Forth : and found there that after a haul of two 

 hours the cod and haddock were lively on being 

 measured at least one hour after hauling, and the 

 whole of the flat fish were also alive, at the end 

 oi the hour. I may say that tlaese plaice 

 which were caught at 10 o'clock yesterday 

 morning were also alive and well at 10 o'clock 

 last night. 



527. After being 12 hours out of the water ? — 

 After being 12 hours out of the water. More- 



■ over it is the custom abroad to send plaice very 

 long distances out of water. They are frequently 

 sent from Frederikshavn, in Denmark, to Copen- 

 hagen alive, out of water, and transferred to tubs 

 in the market there. They are sent in like manner 

 from Cuxhaven to Hamburg, and there trans- 

 ferred to tubs in the market ; and I have even 

 been informed, though I have never seen it 

 myself, that they are sent as far as from Copen- 

 hagen to Stockholm. 



528. You have been on board trawlers when 

 they have been trawling ? — Yes. 



529. What is the average time that the fish 

 would be out of water before being returned to 

 the water, supposing the fishermen did not 

 think it worth while packing them in the 

 trunks? — That again is a difficult question to 

 answer, because it depends so much upon the 

 circumstances of the ground and the kind of 

 fish that are being caught. 



580. Would they ever be 12 hours out of 

 water ? — By no means. When large numbers 



■ of haddock are being caught the fishermen will 

 probably take time to gut and clean all these 

 fish ; but with plaice that operation has not to 

 be performed, and therefore the fish ought to be 

 returned promptly. I may say further, that I 

 have consulted Dr. C. J. G. Peterson, the great 

 Danish authority on plaice, who tells me that the 

 plaice caught by the Danish fishermen are invari- 

 ably ahve when caught. The parallel is not close 

 with our case, because these plaice are caught 

 by seine nets : but at the same time he says that 

 in all his trawling experiments on board the 

 experimental ship the same result occurs ; the 

 plaice come into the boat alive. And he further 

 distinctly says that he bases his whole views of 

 the general question upon the great probability 

 of the plaice being alive when caught and fit to 

 be returned alive to the water. 



531. Therefore, even supposing that the im- 

 position of a size limit did not have the effect 

 which many people anticipate, of preventing the 

 trawlers from going to these eastern grounds 

 at all, if they knew that they could not land 

 these fish and could not sell them, they would 

 throw them back into the sea, and the pro- 

 bability is that a very large proportion of them 

 would live ? — That is my personal belief ; but, of 

 course, a great deal would depend upon reason- 



. able care being taken by the men. 



Lord Tweedmouth. 



532. Have you separated your observations on 



Lord Txveedmouth — continued, 

 this matter with regard to the smaller kind of 

 plaice as against the larger ; do the very small 

 plaice have the same amount of vitality as the 

 larger ones ? — I am not prepared to answer that 

 question in detail. On the whole they have not, 

 1 believe ; they have rather less vitality than 

 the large ones, undoubtedly, but I do not think 

 to a very great extent of difference. 



533. But your experience is rather with what 

 one may call the commercial sized plaice than 

 with the very small ones ? — That is so. In these 

 further experiments of Dr. Fulton's, on which 

 Dr. Fulton wUl be able to give you more in- 

 formation than I can, he found that of the 

 immature plaice 018 per cent, were found dead 

 as against 0'12 as regards the total ; so that the 

 dilierence was not very great. 



534. And also, I suppose, you are aware that 

 very often the trawl is down nuich longer than 

 three or four hours ? — I am aware that it is so 

 in England ; but not very much longer as a 

 rule with our Scottish fishing. 



535. That is the ditference between sail and 

 steam trawlers ? — Very probably. I may say, 

 also, that one witness in connection -with the 

 Sea Fisheries Bill in 1900 admitted that this 

 particular ground that we are speaking of was 

 favourable in this respect. Mr. Charles Hellyer 

 said, " On this ground a fair proportion are alive 

 when they are brought in," although as a general 

 rule he was arguing against a large number 

 being alive. 



Chairman. 



530. Are you speaking of the eastern grounds ? 

 —Yes. 



537. It is obviously in the interests of the 

 fishing trade, is it not, that these young fish 

 should be allowed to grow larger ? — Very greatly 

 so. 



538. Therefore one might reasonably expect 

 them to take some precautions to see that 

 they were returned to the water as quickly as 

 possible after they were hauled up on board ? — 

 That would certainly be my view. 



539. When you were in Germany recently did 

 you make any inquiries as to the prospects of a 

 market abroad for these undersized fish if they 

 were prohibited from coming in here ? — I did 

 not make specific inquiries on those lines, but I 

 am convinced that there is a large market abroad, 

 in some cases for fishes below these limits, and 

 in all cases for fish very slightly above. While 

 we get very few of these small fish in Aberdeen, 

 we occasionally hear reports from captains who 

 have landed such fish abroad. For instance, a 

 few months ago a skipper informed us that he 

 had landed at Ymuiden, in Holland, a cargo of 

 the very smallest size of plaice, which fetched 

 there 10s. a hundredweight, but which in Aber- 

 deen would only have been worth, perhaps, fi-om 

 2s. to 4s. ; and he explained further the use that 

 was made of them in Holland. 



540. Would even ten shillings a cwt. be a 

 remunera.tive price ? — I should think so, con- 

 sidering that he probably got these in great 

 abundance, and had a very short distance to take 

 them. 



541. What would be the average value of a 



trunk 



