DESTRUCTION OF IMMATURE FISH 295 



result from the cessation of fishing there ; and it is 

 by no means certain, however probable it may 

 appear on a priori grounds, that the prohibition of 

 shrimping would lead to the increase of young 

 fish (say plaice) on the area in question, and, in 

 consequence of the offshore migration, to an increase 

 in the number of large plaice further out at sea. 



It would appear, then, that we are not yet 

 prepared to give thoroughly convincing reasons 

 for the adoption of legislative restrictions on those 

 modes of fishing in which small fishes are destroyed 

 to a notable extent. At the same time, there can 

 be no doubt that what we do know of the life- 

 histories of fishes does justify us in recommending 

 the adoption, as a tentative measure, of some of 

 the remedies proposed — say, the imposition of size- 

 limits on the fishes landed in certain districts, or 

 the restriction of shrimp trawling during certain 

 seasons and in certain localities. Such tentative 

 restrictions or prohibitions might be abandoned 

 later, if it became evident that no beneficial result 

 followed from their imposition. But when we 

 consider — 



1. That the imposition of such legislative re- 



strictions would, in many cases at least, 

 provoke much resentment, create new 

 offences demanding an increased police 

 superintendence, and might be the cause 

 of (at least) temporary hardships ; and 



2. That it is certainly quite practicable, by well- 



