IN THE BAYS ON THE SOUTH-EAST COAST OF DEVON. 447 



where the Mumble Bees work. It is possible that they may be 

 swimming up in the water more at that time than at others, but 

 they may be further offshore in deeper water or on rough ground, 

 e.g. the Scruff", where the Mumble Bees cannot get at them. It is well 

 for the fishermen that the plaice are abundant during the months 

 when soles and whiting are scarce. 



The important points displayed in the present section may be briefly 

 summarised. The trawling area over which the Mumble Bees work is 

 about 400 square miles. This area is divisible into a number of separate 

 trawling-grounds, each of which has its " season." The most valuable 

 species of food-fishes are the soles, whiting, plaice, in the order named. 

 The proportion of small plaice on the offshore grounds is considerable, 

 44 per cent, of all the plaice captured being under 1 1 inches. 



Section II. 

 Distribution and Migrations of Food-Fishes. 



By 

 Walter Garstang, M.A., F.Z.S. 



1.— TRAWLING INVESTIGATIONS. 



{With Tables B, C, D, E at end.) 



The trawling investigations in the bays were carried out at monthly 

 intervals by means of the Association's steamer Oithona, a small yacht 

 of 69 tons gross tonnage. Only one gap appears in the monthly records 

 for Start Bay (March), and three in those for the other bays. The total 

 number of hauls recorded in the tables is 138, viz. 70 for Start Bay, 

 36 for Torbay, and 32 for Teignmouth Bay. A few hauls were made 

 on the offshore grounds, but they were not sufficiently numerous to 

 furnish a basis of comparison with the inshore records. Their publi- 

 cation is therefore deferred. 



During the previous investigation of the bays by the Association in 

 1895-8, already reported on by Messrs. Stead and Holt, operations were 

 much hampered by the lack of a suitable steamer, and only 45 hauls 

 in all were recorded. These, however, included a number of hauls by 

 the Brixham smack Thisilc, so that the actual numbers of fish dealt 

 with in the former report fell not far short of those included on the 

 present occasion, e.g. 5,467 plaice as against 6,089. 



