DESTRUCTION OF IMMATURE FISH 279 



otherwise disposed of. In 1897, 143, and in 

 1898, 92 tons were dealt with in a similar manner. 

 When it did sell, very small prices were obtained 

 for this class of fish. In June 1896, an average 

 price of is. for ten "trunks" of plaice was 

 obtained, as compared with a price of 28 s. per 

 trunk for good-sized fish of the same kind. Such 

 boxes of small fish generally contained a few 

 larger specimens, and it was apparently for the 

 sake of these that the fish were captured and sold, 

 the rest of the contents acting only as a kind of 

 " make-weight." These figures represent only a 

 small proportion of the small fish actually landed 

 in England, to say nothing of those landed at 

 Continental ports.^ 



Even in ordinary trawling, with the object of 

 obtaining fair-sized fish, large numbers of im- 

 mature fish are landed. Thus Holt gives an 

 estimate of the numbers of mature and immature 

 plaice landed at Grimsby alone in the year April 

 1893— March 1894. His figures are : — ^ 



Mature plaice . . . 7,084,560 



Immature plaice . . . 9,166,240 



or, classifying the fish in another way — 



Plaice over 13 inches long . 9,721,720 

 „ under „ „ . 6,529,080 



Shrimping, however, far more than ordinary fish 



^ See Evidence, Select Committee of the House of Commons on 

 the Sea-Fisheries Bill of 1900, Questions 361-381. 



"^ Journ. Mar. Biol. Association, vol. iv. No. 4, 1897, p. 414. 



