SEA-FISHERIES LABORATORY. 241 



Such an attitude, in studying a problem which seems likely 

 to become one of economic importance, appears to be the 

 best one, if the results expected to be attained are to possess 

 economic importance. The research, in the past, has 

 therefore been a purely abstract one, unhampered by 

 any obligation to obtain results of " practical " value. 

 Nevertheless, one seems to foresee certain directions 

 which legislative restrictions on fishery methods may take 

 in the immediate future. The closure of fishing grounds 

 has been tried in this district and elsewhere with but 

 indifferent success, and the same may be said of the 

 attempt to regulate the dimensions of nets and other 

 fishing gear. After adopting mesh regulations and 

 enforcing these at some considerable expense, and creating 

 acute friction between the fishermen and the fishery officers, 

 this and other Local Committees have been obliged to 

 confess the failure of their policy by the rescinding of some 

 of their bye-laws. In devising and carrying out these 

 experiments, as well as in the organisation of the collection 

 of statistics relating to the sizes of plaice on the fishing 

 grounds, we have, therefore, been influenced by a con- 

 sideration of the kind of data that may, perhaps, be 

 required when a further period of legislative restriction 

 is entered upon by the fishery authorities. It must be 

 admitted that if even such a limited collection of experi- 

 mental and statistical results as we now possess had been 

 acquired during the first half-dozen years of the work 

 of the Local Fishery Committees, the legislative restric- 

 tions of the last fifteen or so years mighl have been more 

 successful. 



If, then, the imposition of legal size-limits on plaice 

 and olher lish landed for sale in this and other parts of the 

 country be attempted, the results presented in these and 

 other reports may be of value. In another paper in tin's 



