A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Ribble estuary, and the Dee. In comparatively 

 few cases have the fishes moved ofishore into 

 deep water. 



Some of the journeys made by these marked 

 plaice are rather remarkable. Several fish liberated 

 near the mouth of the River Mersey were re- 

 caught in from one to two months near the 

 north end of the Isle of Man, and several fishes 

 liberated near Blackpool turned up subsequently 

 on the coast of Anglesey. One fish liberated off 

 Great Orme's Head was caught some months 

 later in Tremadoc Bay, having doubtless jour- 

 neyed south through the Menai Straits, through 

 Carnavon Bay and through Bardsey Sound. 

 Speaking generally, however, the migration paths 

 of plaice in Lancashire waters are very local 

 ones. 



It is interesting to note that nearly 20 per 

 cent, of the fish so marked and liberated in 

 Lancashire waters were found during the first 

 four months. This shows the intensity of the 

 fishing that goes on within territorial waters. It 

 means that 20 per cent, of all the fish on the sea- 

 bottom in that area were caught by fishermen 

 during the same period. 



58. Lemon Sole. Pieuronectes microcephalus, Don. 

 Not very abundant and usually got in ofifehore 



waters. 



59. Dab. More commonly called ' Garve ' and 



' Skear-back.' 



The most abundant pleuronectid in local 

 waters. I have known as many as 15,000 to be 

 taken in one haul of a shrimp net off Blackpool. 

 The dab is not regarded as a valuable food-fish 

 and does not command a very good price. It 

 is more distinctively an inshore fish than the 

 plaice. 



There appears to be a curious complementary 

 relation between the abundance of plaice and 

 dabs in Lancashire waters. It is often the case 

 that when plaice are scarce dabs are abundant 

 and vice versa. Of late years dabs have become 

 more abundant here than plaice. It is just 

 possible that the restrictive measures imposed on 

 trawl-fishing in Lancashire waters have benefited 

 the dab to a greater extent than plaice. This is 

 all the more probable since the dab is a species 

 which spawns when it is (compared with plaice) 

 relatively small. The relatively wide trawl and 

 stake net meshes enforced now by the Fishery 

 Board may possibly have produced this increase 

 in the number of dabs in Lancashire waters. 



60. Flounder. Also called 'White Fluke.' 



Pieuronectes jUsus^ Linn. 

 Common. The best grounds for the floxmder 

 are perhaps in the Lime and Ribble estuaries. 

 Flounders obtained from the former ground are 

 often infested with the sporozoan parasite, 

 Lymphocystis johnstonei, Woodcock, 1 a most re- 



1 Woodcock, Lancashire Sea Fish. Laby. Report for 

 '9°3. PP- 63-72, Liverpool, 1904. 



markable organism which produces white warts 

 on the skin and fins of the fish. Fishermen often 

 call these parasites eggs, and say that the flounder 

 ' carries its eggs on its back.' There is a pre- 

 judice locally against these flukes, since it is 

 believed that they frequent the neighbourhood 

 of sewer outfells. Mr. A. Scott believes that 

 flounders spawn in shallow waters. 



6i. Witch or ' Whitch.' Pieuronectes cynoglossus, 

 Linn. 

 Fairly common. The witch is a poor kind of 

 edible fish, but it is often sold in poorer fish shops 

 as ' soles ' or white soles (at about 3^. a lb.). 



62. Sole. Solea vulgaris, Quens. 



Individually the sole is the most valuable fish 

 caught in Lancashire waters. It is found every- 

 where, but some grounds, as for instance in the 

 neighbourhood of the Liverpool N.W. lightship, 

 are very lucrative. The sole fishery in Lancashire 

 waters has been steadily improving for the last 

 half-dozen years. 



63. Lucky Sole. Solea variegata (Don.) 



Very uncommon. Mr. A. Scott recorded 

 a specimen from near the Morecambe Bay light- 

 ship in April 1894. It is a smallish fish. 



64. Solenette. Solea lutea (Risso.) 



This is a small fish 3 to 5 inches long which 

 is abundant on the shrimping grounds, especially 

 in the Mersey estuary. It used to be mistaken 

 for the true sole, which it resembles when the 

 latter is young. It is thicker, redder, and has 

 coarser scales than the latter. About half, or 

 even more, of the small ' soles ' got on the 

 Mersey shrimping grounds are solenettes. The 

 solenette becomes mature when about 3 to 5 

 inches long. There are probably three species of 

 Solea which are confused together by fishermen, 

 especially offshore trawlers. Solea variegata and 

 Solea lutea are certainly confounded, and are both 

 called 'Lucky Soles.' Probably 5. lascaris is also 

 found, but I am not aware of any indubitable 

 record of its occurrence in strictly Lancashire 

 waters. 



PERCESCOCES 



65. Grey Mullet. Mugil chelo, Cuv. 



This mullet is found all along the Lancashire 

 coast in summer. Large numbers of the young 

 occasionally enter Morecambe Bay and have been 

 mistaken by fishermen for young salmon. I 

 have seen them in abundance in Fleetwood Dock, 

 and they are said to be very numerous in the 

 Cavendish Dock at Barrow. They are frequently 

 caught in stake and seine nets at Southport and 

 in Morecambe Bay. The other grey mullet, 

 Mugil capita, may occasionally turn up in 

 Lancashire waters and may have been confused 



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