15 
are also gradually declining year by year. This bears out what 
certain owners of trawlers have said to me, but 1 have been en- 
deavouring to get such statements in a statistical form. 
The evidence then is all pointing to the conclusion that there is 
not only a danger of over fishing, but that the effects are already 
becoming felt. The North Sea, large area as it is, with immense 
facilities for the breeding and rearing of the food fishes, seems not to 
be able to cope with the in-roads which are now-a-days constantly 
made upon it by fishermen. And it is therefore the duty of 
Government and the Sea Fisheries Committees to do all they can 
to learn the actual facts, or as many of the facts as possible, and 
to stimulate the enquiries which are being made into the life- 
histories and conditions of life of the species affected, so that if the 
above conclusion is found to be true, a grave problem may be faced 
with as perfect a knowledge as we can obtain. 
COMPLETE RECORDS WITH SIZES OF ALL THE FISHES 
OBTAINED IN THE FIRST IIAI'L. 
In Table II are presented the results of the measurements of 
all the fishes captured in the first haul at each excursion. In some 
cases only one haul was made ; but at ordinary excursions we have 
as last year devoted the first haul to this careful analysis, with the 
exception already pointed out (page 9). 
The Table deserves careful consideration. It shows the kind of 
fishes and the sizes which are apparently most common in these 
bays. We may take it for granted that most of the larger fishes 
which come in the way of the trawl are captured, and when the 
“cod end’’ receives a fair share of these, the smaller ones will be 
more likely to be retained likewise. We seldom, or never, get any 
fish less than four inches in length, and below that size, therefore, 
it is possible that a number of these species frequent even the 
depths in which we experiment. For the most part, however, the 
smaller and younger fishes appear to get their sustenance closer in- 
shore. 
