384 
JOURNAL OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 
going into the question of supply, whether it is increasing or de- 
creasing, I may perhaps just mention the report of the Com- 
missioners appointed to inquire and report upon the complaints 
that have been made by Line and Drift Net fishermen, of injuries 
sustained by them in their calling, owing to the use of the Trawl 
Net and Beam Trawl in the territorial waters of the United King- 
dom (1885) — after having held sittings in London, Aberdeen, 
St. Andrews, Edinburgh, Dunbar, Berwick, Sunderland, Scar- 
borough, Hull, and Brixham, and examined witnesses from Golspie, 
Peterhead, Port Errol, Whinnyf old, Newburgh, Fortdee, Aberdeen, 
Torry, Burabanks, Cove Findia, Porthethen, Downie, Stonehaven, 
J ohnshaven, Broughty Ferry, St. Andrews, Cellardyke, Anstruther, 
Pittenween, St. Mananca, Backhaven, Leith, Edinburgh, New- 
haven, Granton, Preston Pans, Cockenzie, North Berwick, Dunbar, 
Codlingham, Lynmouth, Bournemouth, Berwick-on-Tweed, North 
Shields, South Shields, Whitehaven, Sunderland, Hartlepool, 
Staithes, Whitby, Scarborough, Filey, Hull, Great Grimsby, Great 
Yarmouth, Lowestoft, London, and Brixham (in all forty -nine 
fishing ports), which ought to satisfy any reasonable Britisher, 
if a commission of inquiry is of any use at all. They gave the 
following conclusions : 
I. In territorial waters from Moray Firth to Grimsby. 
(a.) A falling off of flatfish. 
(b.) A decrease of haddock in certain places. 
II. In off-shore waters. No decrease in the total take of fish 
in the North Sea, except in the case of soles. 
III. The beam trawl is not destructive to cod and haddock 
spawn. There is no proof of injury to the spawn of herrings or 
other edible fish. 
IV. There is no wasteful or unnecessary destruction of immature 
food fishes by the beam trawl. 
Y. The number of fish on particular grounds, especially in narrow 
waters, may be sensibly diminished by the use of the beam trawl. 
YI. The injury done by the beam trawl to the food of fishes is 
insignificant. 
VII. It has not been proved that the use of the beam trawl is 
the sole cause of the diminution of fish in territorial waters. 
VIII. In the absence of a proper system of fishing statistics 
and scientific observation, it is impossible to discover the causes 
or measure the fluctuation of the fisheries. 
