OF THE CORNISH PILCHARD FISHERY. 



9 



heavy landings take place from August to November. From 

 a consideration of these facts it may be assumed that during 

 these months inshore migration reaches a mciximum. From 

 the writers' personal enquiry amongst the fishing community 

 at Plymouth, Mevagissey, Newlyn, and St. Ives, it would 

 appear that in former years two distinct migrations took place 

 during the year. The more important still forms the object 

 of the summer fishery which is carried on throughout the 

 inshore waters from Plymouth to St. Ives; the second, occurring 

 in winter, gave rise to a fishery within a few miles radius of the 

 Eddystone. 



The figures previously referred to do not show total land- 

 ings above i,ooo cwt. for December since the year 1902, a 

 fact which serves to demonstrate that the winter fishery has 

 been steadily on the decline during the past decade. At the 

 present time it may be considered to be practically non- 

 existent. 



It is generally stated by fishermen that these winter 

 pilchards were of considerably larger size and better quality 

 than the summer fish. In the opinion of Mr. Howard Dunn 

 of Mevagissey, Mr. Matthias Dunn of Newlyn, and other 

 observers of extensive experience, they constituted either a 

 separate race or were late spawners making an inshore migra- 

 tion after the advent of the sexually immature fish. A discus- 

 sion upon this point is beyond the province of the present 

 paper, but the above facts have been stated with a view to 

 showing that in any consideration of the question of food we 

 have two distinct types of fish to deal with. 



In view of the paucity of our examinations made upon these 

 winter fish, it w411 be convenient at this point to deal with 

 certain observations taken on October nth, 1905, off Port- 

 wrinkle on a small shoal which was known to be moving east- 

 ward toward the Eddystone grounds, in which area fishing was 

 continued for some days until the disappearance of the fish. 

 The men in charge of the boat from which the observations 

 were made, agreed in stating that the fish presented the appear- 

 ance of a typical winter shoal, and negatived the suggestion 

 that any of the individuals composing the catch of 1,500 were 

 late summer fish. The appearance of a large number of sea- 



