252 FISH CULTPEE. 



ence all round the coasts of Ireland, lies almost at 

 their doors, now, comparatively speaking, unworked 

 and unproductive. 



A great outcry has of late years been raised 

 against the system of beam-trawling, pursued around 

 our coasts. It is stated that it destroys Line-fishing, 

 and ought, therefore, to be prohibited altogether. 

 There is some little truth in this, mixed up with a 

 great deal of error. To show how indiscriminate 

 error is in this matter, one of the chief assertions 

 has been that the lead lines of the trawl-net sweepr 

 ing over the bottom destroy the spawn of fish by 

 detaching it from the ground. That some spawn is ' 

 destroyed by such trawlers I have no doubt, but 

 that the spawn is destroyed by being detached is 

 untrue, because during some experiments tried for 

 the Scotch Commission, it was proved by demon- 

 stration that spawn thus dtetached could be hatched 

 without any difficulty, and itotisequeritly, if the 

 spawn thus brought up were Jreturned to the water, 

 comparatively little harm would be done. Still 

 harm is done, and this might be easily avoided by 

 the prohibition of trawling during the time when 

 spawn is deposited on the banks, or it might be pro- 

 hibited under a certain depth of water; for fish 

 always seek the shallow banks on which to deposit 



