IN CERTAIN BAYS ON THE COAST OF DEVON. 95 



these bays are the most obvious, they are not the only difTerences 

 which appear, when the statistics are examined. The general im- 

 pression which such an examination has so far given me is that 

 each bay has a certain individuality of its own in respect of the 

 populations it contains. 



While plaice and dabs appeared in every haul in considerable 

 numbers, the other species captured were obtained in relatively small 

 numbers, and, in most cases, not in every haul. Thus the 144 whiting 

 recorded for Start Bay were all obtained in the two hauls made in 

 that bay on December 4th ; while of the 57 grey gurnards, 29 were 

 obtained on the first trip, and 28 on the second ; and of the 35 soles, 

 33 were taken in the first haul made in Start Bay, and only two 

 in the two last hauls. 



Hence, for the present, at least, in attempting any comparison of 

 the population of the bays examined, little account can be taken of 

 the species captured other than plaice and dabs. 



A careful comparison of the corresponding hauls in each bay has 

 led me to believe that the attempt to obtain a fair idea of what a vessel 

 provided with a similar net might be expected on the average to catch, 

 was attended with success. And if we were only concerned with the 

 practical and economic side of this investigation, this is all we should 

 have to consider. As it is, the further question arises. How far do 

 the catches so obtained represent the actual populations of the bays ? 

 It must be admitted at once that the results are incovijjleie, since 

 they do not apply to the shallower portions of these bays, with depths 

 of less than 5 fathoms. I intend, therefore, to supplement the facts 

 ascertained by trawling, by an investigation into the catches of the 

 inshore fishermen. It remains to consider to what extent the results 

 are imperfect, for those portions of the bays to which they do apply. 

 That the width of mesh of the net employed exerts some selective 

 influence, in permitting the escape of small fish, seems tolerably certain. 

 But in the case of the plaice, at least, there is good reason to think 

 that this factor did not operate to any serious extent. Dr. Fulton's 

 investigations* have shown that with an ordinary net of 1^-inch mesh 

 from knot to knot, out of a total number of 1080 plaice under 8 inches, 

 only 58 escaped (i.e. 5*3 per cent). In my own investigations, the total 

 number of plaice captured under 8 inches in length is only 71. Unless, 

 then, the proportion of the plaice that escaped was far larger in these 

 experiments than in those carried on by the Garland, the selective 

 influence of the net, in permitting the escape of small plaice, may 

 be neglected. 



The same cannot, however, be said for dabs. For these fish, Fulton's 

 • Twelfth Annual Report of Scotch Fishery Board, iii. p. 307. 



