FISH-NOTES FROM GEE AT YARMOUTH. 19 



Lernea branchialis. It is nothing uncommon, even in healthy 

 members of the genus Gadus, to find fat Lernea attached to the 

 gill-rakers, but I think the position referred to in the un- 

 fortunate Bib is very unusual. This species is far more 

 numerous off the Suffolk coast than off the Norfolk coast ; but 

 early in December some rather unusual catches were made by 

 long-liners off the north-east corner of Norfolk. Few fishes 

 deteriorate in appearance in so short a time as the Bib, and it 

 rapidly decomposes after death. Small examples are hardly 

 worth the trouble of cooking; and the bones are much too 

 obtrusive even in larger ones. The inflated eyes do not add to 

 its attractiveness. Couch suggests that this bladder-like infla- 

 tion is due to the terror of the fish when taken, "by the agony 

 of which the air of the swimming bladder is driven into these 

 membranous parts." Small Bibs taken in the shrimp nets, 

 when thrown over at sorting time, float on the surface of the 

 river, and drifting upstream to the Breydon are eagerly picked 

 up by the Gulls. 



I am again under obligation to my friend, Mr. Eobert 

 Beazor, senr., a well-known local fish merchant, for the following 

 notes : — " Very little worthy of record has come to my notice. 

 With regard to Smelts, draw-netting from the beach began this 

 year as early as January 8th, when about four score came to 

 the fish wharf. From the placing of the different catches on the 

 market from time to time, I can form no other conclusion than 

 that the fishing was not nearly so remunerative to those engaged 

 in it as in former years. The largest quantity on any one day 

 was between fifty and sixty score. With regard to trawl fish I 

 have little to report: catches were meagre and prices ruled high. 

 The few * Wolders ' [small trawlers fishing the Wold] fishing 

 made fair catches when able to go out, but frequent gales 

 curtailed their efforts. What Soles (their principal catch) they 

 caught made very high prices. 



" The Mackerel and midsummer Herring voyages were 

 practically failures. No great quantities were landed ; I think 

 the latter was due greatly to the capture of Herrings in the 

 spring, when occasionally large quantities are taken, but are of 

 little value as food and only fetch remunerative prices when 

 wanted by long-liners for bait. 



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