120 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



adjoining area, in the spring of the year. After July the 

 modal size begins to decrease, and this is due to the 

 fishing-out of the larger plaice. 



Considering now the proportion of fish over 8 inches 

 (a purely arbitrary size which is suggested by the fishery 

 regulations) we see a change analogous to those indicated 

 above takes place throughout the year. In January 

 there were about 25 per cent, of fish in the catch at and 

 over 8 inches in length, and this proportion steadily fell 

 to about 10 per cent, in April. Then it rose again as 

 steadily till July — the month of the greatest modal size — 

 when over 90 per cent, of the plaice caught were at and 

 over 8 inches in length. From July the proportion 

 steadily falls towards the end of the year. 



Whether or not a 6-inch mesh should be allowed for 

 this area does not appear to me to be a question worth 

 discussing. If the fishermen desire it they may as well 

 be allowed to use it. When the plaice are abundant the 

 proportion of the whole catch taken by a 6-inch mesh 

 which is over 8 inches long is considerable ; and con- 

 versely when the fish are small, so that a 6-inch mesh 

 will catch a considerable proportion of plaice which are 

 less than 8 inches in length, the fish are so scarce that the 

 regulations have no practical importance. 



Fleetwood Channel. 



This area includes parts of the estuaries of the Rivers 

 Lune and Wyre. The catches quoted were made by the 

 same officer and the same gear as in the case of Barrow 

 Channel. They do not form so complete a series as in 

 the latter district, but they indicate a somewhat similar 

 series of changes. The increase in modal size persists 

 till about September, when the plaice begin to decrease 

 in abundance. This decrease in abundance is probably 



