SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE SEA FISHERIES BILL. 



123 



17 Alarch 1904] 



Mr. Garstang. 



[Continued. 



Chairman — continued. 



2235. But if they were not caught you think 

 they would not grow beyond eight inches on 

 those grounds ? — No ; I say they would grow 

 at a smaller rate with a diminished fishing than 

 they would with intense fishing, because the 

 density will be increased. 



22;)6. But ultimately if they wore not caught 

 they would move off those grounds. — Yes. The 

 only practical point that comes out of that is, 

 that by diminishing the rate of growth the time 

 they sojourn on the nurseries will be increased, 

 they Avill remain longer on the grounds, and 

 therefore the chances of their capture by other 

 boats, German and Danish, will be increased. 



Lord Tweedmouth. 



2237. Do not you think the change of tempera- 

 ture has anything to do with their migration 

 from these shallow grounds ? — It would appear 

 to do so very largely, and I think it is so. To 

 prove what the migration is due to is a matter 

 of a few years, but we certainly feel that it is 

 connected with temperature and other con- 

 ditions, such as salinity. 



2238. My point is that it is during the summer 

 months that these grounds are found crowded 

 with these small fish at the present time ? — 

 Yes. 



2239. Supposing they were not caught, do you 

 think they would remain on there during the 

 ■\vinter months ? — I think it is perfectly certain 

 that the fish above 8 or 9 inches would migrate. 

 It is only the very small ones that would remain 

 there. 



2240. There would be a very considerable 

 difference ia the temperature of that shallow 

 water there in winter ? — Yes, a considerable 

 difference. It is very cold along that coast in 

 winter time, in fact the shores are occasionally 

 covered with ice. Undoubtedly that would affect 

 them. 



2241. Do not you think that it would drive 

 the fish out of the grounds ? — The fact is they 

 cannot be found in the deep water. The very 

 small fish no doubt remain there, but the larger 

 fish, about eight or nine inches, do migrate out 

 into somewhat deeper water. We can prove 

 that from the increase in the average catch of the 

 vessels off shore with the progress of the seasons : 

 in the autumn the abundance of moderate-sized 

 fish in the nurseries has been reduced, while the 

 abundance of the smaller sizes offish off the shore 

 has increased. There is no doubt they do migrate. 



Chairman. 



2242. Do you think, supposing any measures 

 were taken which prevented vessels going there 

 to fish in the summer months, the fish would 

 remain there and might be caught by this same 

 vessel later on in the year ? — Not the fish in 

 wliich we are most interested, the fish above 

 eight inches ; but I think the small fishes, that 

 is, below eight inches and about eight inches, 

 would be submitted to increased risk of capture 

 by local boats, because they would grow more 

 slowly. 



2243. After all the eight inch fish are only 

 one inch above prohibited, minimum of foreign 



(0.10.) 



Chairman — continued. 



vessels ? — Yes, I have been looking at it from the 

 point of view of the fishes rather ; I am thinking 

 that the destruction of very small fishes is just 

 as important as the destruction of very_ big 

 fishes, and I am thinking of the efficacy of this 

 measure to arrest the destruction of fish at all 

 stages of growth. That is all I think I need say 

 in connection with the work. I have merely 

 submitted an example of the kind of work on 

 which we are engaged ; and the only other point 

 that I would like to offer some remarks upon is 

 in connection with the prospects of international 

 regulation arising out of these investigations. 



Marquess of Huntly. 



2244. Did you examine any other fish except 

 plaice ? — Yes. We measure every fish ; we have 

 marked soles. 



Duke of Abercorn. 



2245. Have you any records of the soles ? — ■ 

 Yes. Every fish caught by the trawl is measured, 

 and the results are tabulated out on large sheets. 

 I have here a sheet which shows, for example, 

 the sizes and the number of fish of each size for 

 the same species caught at each haul of the 

 trawl. Tliin is plaice in June on a certain 

 fishing ground. The total number is 16, and the 

 different sizes are in centimetres — if you take 

 2i to the inch it comes to the same thing. For 

 every haul of the trawl we give the exact 

 numbers of different sizes, and thus can toll at. 

 a glance what is the general size of the fish on a 

 given fishing ground. 



2246. These are all plaice ?-- -Yes. 



2247. Do soles migrate as freely as plaice ? — 

 Yes ; we have not marked the soles to anything 

 like the same extent, but we have marked a 

 certain number of soles caught in the Wash, and 

 some of them are now beginning to be caught 

 again ; one was caught quite lately which had 

 travelled a very considerable distance, in fact it 

 will not come into the chart. We marked 39 soles 

 in the Wash in ilugust, and one was caught 

 in February quite lately in latitude .54° 26' that 

 is just about the top of the paper in the 

 north part of the Yorkshire coast. That shows, 

 that the sole is capable of very extensive migra- 

 tion ; and I know the Dutch naturalists who 

 began to mark soles before we did, have also 

 demonstrated the same point — that the sole is 

 the subject of very considerable migration. 



Chairman. 



2248. Can you tell us what is the total 

 number of fish you have caught and measured ? 

 — I forget at the present time ; I think it is- 

 150,000, or something like that. 



2249. And do you know how many altogether 

 were marked ? — We have not marked 150,000. 



2250. Can you say how many were marked 

 and turned out again ? — I think we have 

 marked about 1,500 fishes. 



2251. And of those 31 per cent, have been 

 recaught ? — 30 per cent, have been recovered 

 within the year; that is to say, those experi- 

 ments which have lasted a year have yield an 

 average of something like 30 per cent, and the 

 Q 2 same 



