^9^ THE SEA FISHERIES 



shrimp trawl are the plaice, sole, dab, haddock, whiting cod and 



Ledfbi' fish V'" r*'"* *^^ ^^"°" ''''' ^"» ^-d g"-- '; tnous 

 medible fish are also met with, the commoner being the solenette 

 frequently mistaken for the young sole), the stinge or weevil 

 bull-heads, sea-scorpions and sand-eels. Occasionally sprl's T^ 



rSri'? "'^ ''""^^"" '' '' ''^^ *^« fishermen'to'abando: 

 shrimpmg or prawnmg temporarily for spratting. The same net 

 IS used, but the method of fishing is necessarUy different 



The number of small fish taken is at times extremely high. On 

 the 27th September, 1893, the Lancashire Fisheries cutter recorded 

 the foUowmg haul when fishing near the Deposit Buoy in the 

 Mersey ^tuary. Depth of water, 5 fathoms. Bottom-^and. 

 length of drag, 2 miles, duration ninety minutes. Shrimp trawl 

 ot 21 ft. beam. Twenty other boats fishing in the immediate 

 vicmity. Quarts of shrimps taken, 32. Number of fish : soles 12, 

 average length 4jin. ; plaice 10,407, average length 4I in. ; dabs 

 375. average length 4 in. ; whiting 169, average 5 in. ; codling 69, 

 average 5 in. A few large fish are occasionally taken, and the local 

 regulations permit the fishermen to retain these provided they are 

 over 8 in. in length. All the small fish brought up in a shrimp 

 trawl do not necessarily die. Flat-fish from 3 to 8 in. in length are 

 not very hardy, but many are alive when the net is hauled aboard, 

 and probably recover if put back into the sea immediately. Vitality 

 experiments 1 have been made for various kinds of trawl nets, and 

 these show that quite a large proportion of flat-fish recover when 

 taken from the net and immediately placed in a tank containing 

 running sea water. Flat-fish tmder 3 in. in length rarely survive, 

 and the greater number of these are probably destroyed by shrimp- 

 ing. Small round fish, such as codling, whiting and haddock are 

 invariably dead after being caught in the trawl. The mortality 

 amongst fish caught in the shrimp trawl depends to a large extent 

 on the rapidity and care with which the fisherman sorts his catch. 

 This, apart from the personal factor, depends on a number of variable 

 circumstances, such as the duration of the drag, the facility with 

 which the net can be hauled, the temperature and other considera- 

 tions. 



It is to the interest of the fishermen to sort the catch quickly 

 and get the shrimps boiled, and it may be taken for granted, since 

 these men occasionally take to trawling for fish, that they are 



'See - Fulton, "The Capture of Immature Fish, "SihAnn. Rept. Fish. Bd. Scotland, 

 1890, Part III, pp. 183-187. Also Fulton, "The Capture and Destruction of Im- 

 mature Sea Fish," gth Ann. Rept. Fish. Bd. Scotland, 1891, p. 201. Herdman, Report 

 Lancashire Sea Fisheries Laboratory, 1893, p. 23; 1894, p. 30. Borley, Report 

 on the Vitality of Trawl-caught Plaice. Marine Biological A ssn. 0/ the United Kingdom 

 International Investigations. North Sea. Second Report. Southern Area. Cd. 

 4641, 1909, p. I. 



