72 THE SEA FISHERIES 



North Sea), the sizes of fish which it should be made illegal to land, 

 and the conditions under which the regulations should be applied. 

 Details are given in the report already referred to. 



These proposals were under consideration by the various Govern- 

 ments interested in the plaice fisheries of the North Sea when war 

 broke out in August, 1914. Naturally there can be no concerted 

 international action for the protection of the fisheries of the North 

 Sea for some years, and the possibility of individual action by any 

 of the Governments is very remote. There can be no doubt that 

 all the scientific and statistical evidence is in favour of some further 

 protection for undersized fish, especially fiat-fish (Pleuronectids). 

 Whether a size limit is the best measure of protection is a moot 

 point. In all probability it is not, and the International Council 

 seem to have recognised this, since they advocate as " the most 

 effective method " of protecting the plaice, the closure of the 

 nursery grounds. Before considering the effect of a legal size limit 

 for plaice on the inshore fishermen, reference must be made to a 

 paper by Dr. Masterman on the plaice fisheries of the North Sea 

 (October, 1915), as it summarises the most recent official investi- 

 gation of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries into this question. * 

 Masterman analyses the plaice statistics for the period 1906-I2 so 

 far as they relate to English landings from the North Sea. The 

 southern plaice fishery is carried on chiefly by sailing trawlers 

 from Ramsgate and Lowestoft, and this fish is the chief object of 

 these vessels, as it constitutes 57 per cent by weight of their catch. 

 The plaice fishery in the northern parts of the North Sea is con- 

 ducted by steam trawlers, whose movements are not mainly in- 

 fluenced by the prevalence of this species. 



Just as in the case of soles in the Irish Sea, the plaice of the 

 southern North Sea are absolutely essential to the continuance of 

 sailing trawling. Steam trawlers, on the contrary, are not dependent 

 on any single species of fish. In the North Sea, for instance, where 

 plaice are abundant, haddock are scarce, and vice versa. Either 

 species can be captured by the steamer, but the distance of the 

 latter from the home ports of the sailing trawler render its capture 

 practically an impossibiUty. Even although the plaice can only 

 be considered vital to the sailers, its importance to the steamers is, 

 nevertheless, considerable. On the whole, Masterman 's conclusions 

 support those of the Scottish investigators, even although he may 

 not be quite so outspoken as to the probable results of this over- 

 fishing on the future of the fisheries. There can be no question but 



1 Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. Fishery Investigations. ^Series II. Sea 

 Fisheries, Vol. II, No. i. " Report on the Plaice Fisheries of the North Sea 

 (Parts I and II), by A. T. Masterman. London, 1915. 



