8o SALT-WATER FISHES 



knew that their catch in such localities would consist, wholly or 

 in great part, of contraband, they would refrain from putting 

 the trawl overboard until deeper water was reached, and this 

 abstention on their part would be far more reliable than any 

 arising from mere prohibition of trawling within a given area, 

 unless accompanied by adequate provision for policing the 

 closed district. 



V. Of fish-culture Mr. R. B. Marston says something in 

 a later chapter, and it may here suffice to remark that unless 

 the fry be reared to the point of being able to find their 

 nourishment and evade their enemies, the mere turning out 

 of either fertilised spawn or newly hatched embryos would 

 seem to be of slight promise. 



VI. That something might, however, be done even with 

 the spawn from ripe food-fish is the opinion of Mr. C. E, 

 Fryer, of the Board of Agriculture, and others, and that gentle- 

 man has made a very ingenious suggestion, that the fishermen 

 should be induced to press the ripe milt or ova from newly 

 caught fish and return these to the sea. The Devon Sea 

 Fisheries Committee has also issued an extremely convenient 

 brochure of instructions on the subject, compiled by Mr. W. 

 Garstang, of the Marine Biological Association, which may be 

 briefly summarised as follows : — 



The fishermen should watch for fish running with spawn 

 as soon as the trawl conies on deck. Such fish should be 

 placed in the shade, and on their backs as much as possible 

 (to save the spawn), in groups according to their species, the 

 plaice in one, the turbot in another, and so forth. They may 

 be left thus for an hour or even more. Then, when all is 

 clear, a ripe male plaice, say, is gently squeezed into a bucket 

 of clean sea water, after which several ripe female plaice are 

 squeezed into the same bucket, as the milt of a male will 

 fertilise the ova of many females. The water, with its eggs 

 and milt, must then be stirred about for a few seconds with 

 the hand, in order to mix the soft and hard roes, and then, 



