SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE SEA FISHERIES BILL. 



35 



4 March 1904.] 



Professor D'Aroy W. Thompson, c.b. 



Continued. 



Lord Tweedmouth — continued. 



.-serious matter to undertake. In the second 



Elace, if you try to do it in any other way than 

 y poHcing, you will soon encounter difficulties ; 

 a rise in the market prices, a known increase 

 of soles, perhaps, on the same ground, would 

 soon send your trawlers back there. And fur- 

 ther, I do not believe, from what I know of 

 opinion abroad, that the foreigners would follow 

 you in any such legislation. I asked the 

 Danish representative the other day specifically 

 •on that point, and he said that since the im- 

 position of the size limit their men still fish 

 upon the same grounds as before, and it is the 

 intention that they should do so. 



601. Can you tell me what the effect is with 

 regard to the Danish boats. Do the Danish boats 

 stick to the size limit, or do they catch as many 

 small fish and bring them ashore all the same ? — 

 They throw them overboard. At the same time, 

 there is a remarkable industry in Denmark that 

 consists in transplanting these small fishes from 

 the eastern grounds we are speaking of to the 

 Liim Fiord, where these small fish grow with 



_gi'eat rapidity, where there is warm temperature 

 -and abundant food. Many thousands of these 

 fish are transplanted there in the spring, and by 

 the autumn have increased to a good market- 

 -able size; and by the autumn they are all 

 -caught and cleared off again. We have no 

 area of sea in this country to my knowledge 

 where that experiment could be performed. 



602. We could not adopt any such plan as 

 that ? — No, we have no such area. 



603. Is that a method which could be adopted 

 to a greater extent over on that side of the 

 North Sea ? — I believe it is increasing ; but it is 

 already adopted on a very large scale, and a 

 very large number of boats are engaged in that 

 industry. 



604. But under whose direction is that done ? 

 Who pays for the expense of it ? — I am not able 

 to say. I believe it is under Grovernment in- 

 spection, but whether the Danish Government 



. actually subsidises the transference of these fish 

 in the spring time I. do not know. 



605. How far are they transferred ; what is 

 the distance between the Liim Fiord and the 

 place where they catch these small fish ? — A 

 very short distance. These small fishing grounds 

 go aU along the western coast of Denmark, and 

 the Liim Fiord is the great inlet of the sea that 

 practically cuts off the north end of Jutland, so 

 the distance is small. 



606. You said that a quantity of these small 

 fish were landed at Ymuiden ? — Yes. 



607. For a special purpose; what was that 

 . special purpose ? — The skipper simply told us 



that these very small fish were salted and dried, 

 and cut up into little dice and sold as a relish. 



608. A sort of hors d'ceuvre ? — They were 

 said to be distributed in public houses as a relish 

 with beer. 



609. Do you believe that it is necessary for 

 plaice to go into deep water to extrude their eggs 

 — ^that they require the weight of the water to 

 help them to spawn ? — I should not believe in 

 the weight of the water theory, certainly ; but it 

 is undoubted that they do go into deep water. 

 I am inclined to think that it is the result of 

 temperature changes. We can see, for instance 



(0.10.) 



Lord Tweedmouth — continued. 



in these eastern grounds, that as soon as the 

 temperature markedly rises, as it suddenly does 

 about the month of July, that is precisely the 

 time when the plaice depart and go into deeper 

 water, We have got a deal of information 

 recently about the relation of fish movements to 

 temperature, both on our own coast and else- 

 where. 



Duke of Aberco^-n. 



610. Have you any knowledge as to the 

 growth of flat fish ? For instance, supposing a 

 plaice was 10 inches in one season, how long 

 would it take to become a 12 -inch fish, supposing 

 the feeding was good ? — On the average, a plaice 

 of that size would grow about three inches or a 

 little more in the 12 months. It grows very 

 little in the cold months of winter, but the nexi 

 warm season would make it about three inches 

 more. 



611. And does it grow stronger in proportion 

 than a sole would ? — I know nothing about the 

 precise rate of growth of the sole, but I may 

 point out that in growing these three inches the 

 plaice would double its weight. 



612. It becomes thicker ? — It grows in every 

 direction, and the result would be, in this case, 

 that its weight would be doubled. A plaice of 

 13 inches weighs rather more than twice as 

 much as a plaice of 10 inches, and that is 

 according to the simple rule that the weight 

 (or volume) increases as the cube of the linear 

 dimensions. 



613. With regard to that cargo of fish landed 

 in Holland, do you know where these small 

 plaice came from — what beds ? — They were 

 undoubtedly caught not very far off'. The same 

 ground that skirts the western coast of Denmark 

 skirts in a narrower strip the whole of North 

 Germany and Holland. 



614. What we call the far east coast ? — ^When 

 we speak of the eastern grounds we generally 

 mean a little further; but practically from 

 Texel or Terschelling right away to the 

 coast of Denmark the same conditions obtain, 

 the same conditions of depth of bottom and 

 temperature, and the same currents that guide 

 the spawn thither. 



615. You said you had considerable know- 

 ledge of the feeling abroad with regard to the 

 sale of these small fish ; is it your opinion that 

 if England takes the lead, other countries would 

 join ? — I think so ; but up to a certain and 

 fairly defined limit. 



616. That is what I was going to ask you. 

 Would they join in a universal limit of size, do 

 you think? — I am not in a position to speak 

 so definitely as that, but I think I may 

 say definitely that a size beyond 10 inches 

 they would not go to ; that in Denmark at 

 present, where they seem to be satisfied with 

 their limit of restriction, the great majority of 

 plaice sold are only a little above the limit; 

 that an 11-inch or certainly a 12-inch limit 

 would be objected to very strongly. 



617. And are you of opinion that if some 

 legislation does not take place with regard to 

 these small fish, whether it is effectual or not, 

 the destruction of the smaller fish would still 

 continue ? — I did not quite understand the 

 question. 



E 2 018. That 



