[ 219 ] 



Director's Report. 



The investigations into matters connected with economic fishery- 

 questions have been carried on with considerable success, during the 

 summer and autumn months. Mr. J. T. Cunningham has visited 

 various fishing centres on the East Coast, and has been able to supple- 

 ment the observations made by Mr. Holt and himself at Grimsby, in 

 some important respects, by thus extending the field of investigation. 

 As will appear from the full report published by Mr. Cunningham in 

 this number of the Journal, he has, amongst other things, shown that 

 two distinct races of plaice occur in the North Sea. It had already 

 been ascertained that the plaice of the English Channel formed a 

 smaller race than those generally landed at Grimsby from the North 

 Sea. The evidence now obtained from Lowestoft proves that the plaice 

 brought to that port from the Dutch coast, south of the Texel, are no 

 larger than those of the English Channel, so that the high size limit 

 proposed to be applied to the plaice landed at Grimsby would be quite 

 inapplicable to those landed at Lowestoft. 



Mr, F. B, Stead has commenced an investigation of the fish which 

 inhabit the bays on the South Coast of Devon, at present closed to 

 trawlers. The results of this investigation promise to be of great 

 interest. Erom the facts at present ascertained, it appears that during 

 October and December, the only fish which are taken in these bays in 

 sufficient numbers to be of importance, from a practical point of view, 

 are plaice and dabs. Of these two species, the plaice only are valu- 

 able, and the large number of competing dabs must probably be 

 regarded as a positive hindrance to their well-being. Any controversy 

 that may be raised, therefore, as to the advisability or otherwise of 

 keeping these bays closed to trawlers, should be solely occupied with 

 the consideration of the question whether such closure is necessary or 

 desirable for the protection of plaice. It has further been shown that 

 the bays differ markedly from one another in respect of the sizes of the 

 fish they contain, for whilst half the plaice in Start Bay were found 

 to be over 12 J inches in length, in Teignmouth Bay half the plaice 

 captured were under 10^ inclies, 



I have given, in another part of the present number of the Journal, 

 a brief account of the investigation which is being carried on into the 



Q 2 



