WEST COAST FISHERIES. 133 



More especially have the islands of Mull and Barra been 

 examined, and a few of the facts there collected may prove of 

 public utility. 



Lochbuie, in the south of Mull, is readily approachable from 

 Oban in the summer time, and during many seasons there have 

 been herring fisheries of considerable value carried on there. 

 Opening, as the loch does, directly to the Atlantic — to the gales 

 from which it is also more especially exposed — one naturally 

 anticipates occasional visits from fish shoals, and in this the 

 natives are seldom disappointed. But from season to season 

 there is a distinct variation in this regard, and the reason for 

 the absence of the accustomed visits is worthy of close examina- 

 tion. The herring fishery, when prosecuted, is conducted for 

 the most part from Oban as a centre, principally owing to the 

 extremely exposed nature of the coast preventing a herring 

 fleet lying securely in Lochbuie. The herring used formerly to 

 spawn in quantities at the head of the bay, but we could not 

 learn that they have done so of recent years, and the likelihood 

 is that they have been driven out to sea, and forced to spawn 

 in deeper water. During our stay they were not observed in 

 shoals, but were occasionally in numbers " on the feed." This 

 made it all the more interesting, seeing the contents of their 

 stomachs were readily differentiated, and proved to be of the 

 usual nature, viz., the life that for the time being was the most 

 plentiful in the tow-net, and along the outer fringe of the sea- 

 ware. This life included numerous Entomostraca, such as 

 Cladocera and Copepoda, as well as Schizopoda from the shore- 

 ward waters. At these times the tow-nets were always well 

 filled, and the floating life of the sea shown to be abundant. 

 Occasionally, at this time, the nets were filled wdth strong- 

 smelling floating algae of a simple character, such as was found 

 to be inimical to fish life in the further north ; but we did not 

 find that the presence of this disagreeable growth either 

 decreased the take of Entomostraca, or prevented the capture 

 of herring inshore. 



We had here an opportunity of noting a fact that has a 

 special bearing on our investigations elsewhere, and that make 

 it dangerous to generalise on negative evidence. The cod 

 fishing that was being conducted outside, at the mouth of the 

 bay, was a blank, so far as any evidence of the immediate 

 neighbourhood of herring was concerned. Not that there was 

 any absence, either, of a general food supply. Quite the con- 

 trary. The fish were well supplied with a general cargo, but 

 herring, in no case within our cognizance, were found amongst 

 it. It is frequently stated that when not captured inshore 

 freely, the herring are in deep water, and consequently when 

 the white fish there captured show no sign of herring, we 



