of the, Fishery Board for Scotland. 
207 
careful to return the immature fish and shrimps at once to the sea ; and 
from what is stated below it is evident that the destruction of immature 
food-fishes in the Solway is quite infinitesimal. On the Lancashire 
coast a morning's fishing of one boat yielded the following number of 
immature fish : — 
Common 
Sole. 
Plaice. 
Ray {R. 
fullonica). 
Whiting. 
Sand-eel. 
Lesser 
"VYeever. 
Pogge. 
Size 
Size 
Size 
Size 
Size 
Size 
Size 
No. 
in 
No. 
in 
No. 
in 
No. 
in 
No. 
in 
No. 
in 
No. 
in 
inches. 
inches. 
inches. 
inches. 
inches. 
inches. 
inches. 
6 
5-7 
480 
72 
2i-5 
3 
5 
47 
2^-4^ 
15 
4i-6 
42 
3-5i 
• 
... 
5 
It is obvious from these figures that the number of small immature food- 
fishes annually caught by shrimp-boats must be enormous, and probably 
far transcends the quantity caught by beam trawlers working with large- 
meshed nets in the open sea. The number of immature food-fishes 
captured in the ordinary trawl-net of the 'Garland' in 152 hauls was 
only 6417, or an average of a little over 42 per haul, which contrasts very 
strikingly with the number taken by the shrimp-nets. It is therefore 
clear that if the immature fish captured in shrimp-trawls, or even a con- 
siderable proportion of them, perished, there would be an immense waste- 
ful destruction of food-fishes. But it is the general (although not invari- 
able) practice to return the immature fish taken with the shrimps as soon 
as possible to the sea ; and the whole question turns upon whether the fish 
so returned will live or die. In the Eeport of MM. Giard and Roussin to the 
French Minister of Marine, on behalf of the Consultative Committee on 
French Marine Fisheries,* it is stated that the immature fish, even when 
immediately returned to the sea, do not survive, but perish. f The same 
view appears to be taken by M. Auguste Borgers, of the Belgian Commis- 
sion,! ^'^^ others who have written on the subject. It does not appear, 
however, that this statement is founded upon experimental observations, 
but rather upon general considerations. So far as I can discover, the only 
experimental investigation into the question is that now given here. The 
experiments made by the direction of the Fishery Board point to the con- 
clusion that the vast majority of the immature fish taken in the shrimp- 
nets are alive when brought to deck. Shrimp-fishing is carried on on 
sandy bottoms, or sand mixed with a little mud, the net is kept down for 
rarely over an hour, and frequently for a much less time, and the boat 
drifts slowly with the tide. It is, however, shown above that all the 
immature fish captured on clean sand, when the hauls were under five 
hours, were alive when brought to deck, and that immature fiat-fish did 
not succumb even when the net was down for seven hours. Furtlier, 
that even when the bottom consisted of mud alone, no immature fiat-fish 
perished if the net was hauled within two hours. For example, in May 
a haul of seven hours was made on a bottom of clean sand in the Firth of 
* Rapport sur la milgarisation de Vemploi d'engiiis pour la 2^chc de la cJievrctie. 
Paris, 1889. 
t Pp. 4-5. * Cet eiigin destructeur ramenant h. chaque coup des quantites con- 
* siderabh'S de petits sujets de ces es])cccs qui, nienie rejetos ijnnuMliateniont i\ la mer, 
* ne survivent pas aux IVoiHsements qu'ils out subis et sont absoluinent perdus.' 
X La diminution du Poissoii Ic long des Cdtes maritimes. Osteud, 1890. 
