44 



THE SEA FISHERIES 



at a length of from ii to 13 in. In the Lancashire markets small 

 soles are usually retailed under the name of " Southport slips." 

 The retail price is from 6d. to 8d. per lb., and there would be eight 

 fish to the pound, the length varying from 7 to 8'| in. 



A second important Irish Sea fishery is that for plaice. The weight 

 of plaice landed by steam trawlers has gone up from 1332 cwt. in 

 1906 to 12,967 cwt. in 1913. The weight of small plaice landed by 

 the steamers has increased from 165 cwt. in 1906 to 6887 cwt. in 

 1913. There is no uniformity in the trade classification of plaice 

 into " large," " medium " and " small," and different standards 

 will be found at different ports. Broadly speaking, small plaice 

 are between 17 and 30 cm. (6| to 12 in.), medium, which are not so 

 regular, range from 25 to 40 cm. (10 to 16 in.), and large from 

 between 25 to 30 cm. up to 69 cm. (11 to 27 in.). In the Irish Sea 

 the plaice matures at lengths of from 11 to 15 in., so that all the 

 small and the bulk of the medium are immature fish. 



Irish Sea Plaice. Steam Trawler Caught. 



(Weights in cwts.) 



Irish Sea Plaice Caught by First-Class 

 Sailing Trawlers 



The next area, the Bristol Channel, is still smaller, containing 

 only 8600 sq. miles. As in the Irish Sea the sailing trawler still 

 puts up a plucky fight against extinction. The Bristol Channel 

 region is bounded seawards by the lOO-metre line, and separated by 

 a line drawn S.W. from the Land's End from the English Channel. 

 The chief fish are soles, skates and rays. This area and the Irish 

 Sea are similar in many respects. The following table illustrates 



