FISHERY STATISTICS 223 



the capture of immature fish is opposed in many- 

 quarters — by the inshore fishermen of the north- 

 west coast of England, for example. It is claimed 

 that a lower limit of eight inches in length for 

 plaice would deprive these men of a considerable 

 portion of the material by which they make a 

 livelihood. Now, experience shows that the state- 

 ments of fishermen with regard to the exact sizes 

 of the fish which they catch are not always to 

 be taken without question, and it becomes very 

 important to ascertain for the area in question 

 what proportion of all the plaice caught are under 

 eight inches in length, and what is their market 

 value. Such information would at once show 

 what the effect of the proposed legislation would 

 be, and whether it would or would not inflict 

 hardship on any considerable class of fishermen. 

 Speaking generally, no question of regulation can 

 properly be discussed without the aid of accurate 

 and copious statistics. And most scientific 

 inquiries into sea-fisheries questions are now of 

 such a nature that statistical information is quite 

 indispensable, if our conclusions are to possess 

 more than academic interest. The distribution of 

 species of fishes, in respect of their different life- 

 phases over several different areas, for instance, is 

 one that occasionally becomes of considerable 

 practical interest. Most of our knowledge on 

 this head is derived from " fishery experiments," 

 which are often very restricted in their scope. 



