of the FisJwry Board for Scotland. 
159 
following sizes, measured 4 from the Eyes to the utmost Extent of the 
* Tail (viz.) every Bret or Turbet, sixteen inches ; every Brill or Pearl, 
* fourteen inches ; every Codlin, twelve inches ; every Whiting, six inches ; 
' every Bass and Mullet, twelve inches ; every Sole, eight inches ; every 
' Place or Dab, eight inches; and every Flounder, seven inches.' The 
penalties were forfeiture of the fish to the poor of the parish and the 
payment of a fine of twenty shillings ; in default of which the offender 
was to be ' severely whipped and kept to hard labour for a space of ' at 
least six days. 
All the above Acts, so far as they relate to sea fisheries, have been 
repealed. At the present time there is no restriction as to the size of 
mesh used or the size of sea fish taken, except in the case of herring- 
nets on the coast of Scotland, and the enactment is quite obsolete. 
2. Recent Inquiries. 
In recent times various Commissions have been appointed by Government 
to inquire, directly or indirectly, into the capture and destruction of im- 
mature sea fish by various modes of fishing. The most extensive of these 
was that held by the ' Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Sea 
1 Fisheries of the United Kingdom,' whose report was issued in 1866.* 
One of the points upon which inquiry was to be made was — ' Whether 
1 any of the methods of catching fish in use in Sea-Fisheries involves a 
1 wasteful destruction of fish or spawn, and, if so, whether it is probable 
' that any legislative restriction upon such method of fishing would result 
' in an increase of the supply of fish.' The Commissioners visited various 
parts of the coast and heard evidence, and found generally that while 
beam trawling, shrimping, the use of seine and circle-nets, and of stow- 
nets, and weirs involve the capture of a certain very variable proportion 
of small fish, there was no good grounds to believe that this destruction 
of small fish had diminished the supply of saleable fish. The Commission, 
however, admitted that, with respect to inshore fisheries, 'it is undoubtedly 
1 possible, that by the use of improved engines, the destruction of fry 
' might reach such a pitch as to bear a large, instead of, as at present, 
' an insignificant ratio to the destruction affected by the natural enemies 
1 of fish, and by conditions unfavourable to their existence.' And that, 
if such a state of things were satisfactorily proved to exist, ' the best 
1 remedial measure would be to place a restriction upon the size of the 
' fish permitted to be brought ashore, and to subject the possessor of fish 
' below a certain specified size to penalties ; but to avoid interfering 
1 with the implements of fishermen, or with their methods of fishing.' It 
is very doubtful, however, if the enforcement of a regulation of this 
character alone would do much good. It would prevent the sale, but 
permit the capture and destruction of immature fish ; since a large 
proportion of those obtained in beam trawling, and many also in shrimp 
trawling, probably do not live when returned to the sea. 
The conclusions of this Commission (and indeed of all previous and 
most subsequent Commissions), were almost wholly reached by sifting the 
opinions of various classes of fishermen and others who appeared before 
them, — of ' assertions that can be neither proved nor disproved,' and of 
' evidence of the most conflicting character. ' The Commissioners 
pointed out that enough was not known 1 of the number, the mode of 
' multiplication, or of the conditions of existence in any locality of any 
' given kind of fish,' to enable them ' to form the slightest estimate as to 
* Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Sea Fisheries of the 
United Kingdom, vol. i. ; the Report and Appendix, 1866. 
