of the Fisher y Board for Seotlaiul. 
26,000 tons, for which the fishermen received nearly ,£190,000. It is not 
possible to state, except approximately, the proportional quantity of 
immature cod landed ; but from the statistics of tlie Fishery Ollicers as to 
the quantity of 'large' and 'small' cod captured, it is probable that, at least, 
7,000 tons — valued at about £45,000 — consisted of fish which had never 
reproduced. Other examples might be given ; yet there is not sullicient 
evidence to show that these fisheries are falling oil' to any extent ; and, 
unless on economic grounds, it is as unreasonable to prohibit the salt; of 
such immature fish as to prohibit the sale of the eggs of domestic fowls, 
of chickens, lamb, veal, &c. The food of civilised man consists, to a large 
extent, of immature organisms — both animal and vegetable. It is some- 
what different with the valuable fiat-fishes — turbo t, soles, brill, plaice, &c. 
— the abundance of which is undoubtedly diminishing on the fishing 
grounds ; but it would require very careful consideration before recom- 
mending that all individuals, even of these species under the size at 
which the females first begin to reproduce — namely, turbot under about 
18 inches, brill under about 16 inches, plaice under about 15 inches, and 
soles under about 12 inches — should be prohibited from sale. These fish, 
considerably under the sizes given, furnish a large and valuable source of 
food supply. On the other hand, the preservation of small specimens of 
little comparative value to the public or the fishermen, as in Denmark and 
Italy, would be advisable. But as stated elsewhere, the crux of the 
immature fish question is not the selection of sizes, but the carrying out of 
any regulations beneficially. Simple prohibition, merely of the landing or 
sale of the fish, may do more harm than good ; regulation, to be effective, 
should be exercised at the fishing grounds or in connection with the fishing, 
and when the difficulty of carrying out simple police regulations is remem- 
bered, it is clear that this obstacle will be very great. 
In the preparation of the previous paper, the sizes of the sexes were 
considered separately, but were not so given, except, as an illustration, in 
the case of the plaice, in which it was pointed out that the smaller ripe 
specimens were invariably males, the smallest ripe female obtained 
being 20 inches long, as compared with the smallest ripe male, which was 
only 13 inches— the average size of the ripe males being 16 '7 inches and 
of ripe females 24 inches.* It was intended to deal with this question in 
the paper on the Proportional Numbers and Sizes of the Sexes among Sea- 
Fishes,! but exigencies of time compelled only the totals to be given. 
This omission has now been supplied by Mr Holt in the valuable paper 
previously mentioned, and, in the accompanying table (Table V.), similar 
data are given for fish on the East Coast of Scotland. 
This table explains itself, but one or two points may be referred to. As 
pointed out two years ago (Eighth Annual Report, Part III., p. K2), ani- 
line of demarcation that we can draw between mature and immature, in- 
dividuals of the same species cannot be mathematically precise, so as to 
have, on one side of it, all those which are immature, and, on the other 
side, all those which have reached maturity. If the line is drawn at the 
smallest ripe individual, a number of those which have not yet become 
mature will be included among the mature j if it is drawn at the largest 
immature individual present in a spawning shoal, then a number of ripe 
specimens will be included among the immature. To assume that the 
relation between the sexual maturity of a fish and its size was absolutely 
constant in all individuals of the same sex would be to exclude the possibility 
of variation in a function notoriously variable. Hence amongst almost all 
* Eighth Annual Report, Part III., p. 162, 1890. 
t Op. tit., p. 348. 
