CONSIDERATION OF INDIVIDUAL FISH ^x 



nursery grounds, but the Committee is of opinion that the difficulties 

 of carrying out such a measure internationally would be very great, 

 and the best practical remedy is the imposition of a minimum size 

 limit. 



(6) As an initial measure, and in order to meet the different 

 conditions of the plaice fishery in each country, a minimum size 

 limit of zo cm., below which it would be illegal to land plaice, 

 should be imposed. 



(7) Considering that the destruction of small plaice occurs 

 chiefly in the spring and summer months, a size limit of 22 cm. 

 should be in force for the months from ist April to 30th September 

 in each year. 



(8) As it is essential to ascertain the effects of such measures the 

 International Council is requested to make provision for the neces- 

 sary investigations. 



In arriving at the above conclusions the Committee were evidently 

 endeavouring to compromise. In Holland there is at present a 

 size limit of 16 cm. for plaice, and it is desirable that this size limit 

 should be increased. In the British Isles there is no minimum size 

 limit for the plaice, and the proposed size limits of 20 and 22 cm. 

 would have little immediate effect in checking the operations of 

 the steam trawler, while their sudden imposition would press hard 

 on the smaller class of inshore fishermen. In Denmark the size 

 limit for plaice is 8 in., and as a consequence plaice caught by 

 Danish fishermen which are too small to be landed in their own 

 country are landed and sold at Billingsgate. Generally speaking, 

 in Germany plaice less than 15 cm. in length from end to end may 

 not be caught, that being the size limit in East and West Prussia, 

 Pomerania, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Lubeck ; but in Schleswig- 

 Holstein, Hanover and the free towns of Hamburg and Bremen 

 the limit is 18 cm. The Plaice Committee took into consideration 

 the fact that during the autumn and early winter the plaice in 

 several regions of the North Sea are in good condition before they 

 attain the size of 22 cm., and that the local fishing circles could 

 not stand a too drastic limitation of their former practice. There- 

 fore they decided unanimously that from October to March an 

 international size limit of 20 cm. should be proposed. Having regard 

 to the fact that some countries have no official size limit or a con« 

 siderably lower one than that recommended, it did not appear 

 advisable to propose higher limits at first. " The primary object 

 was, above all, to make it possible for all countries participating 

 in plaice fisheries of the North Sea to unite in joint protective 

 action." The Committee defined the area within which their recom- 

 mendations should first take effect (practically the whole of the 



