460 



REPORT ON TRAWLING AND OTHER INVESTIGATIONS 



summer. The Brixham and Torquay fishermen will have it that this is 

 partly, if not entirely, due to the absence of trawling, and though it is 

 merely a matter of opinion, it is possible that they have a certain 

 amount of right in their contention. Even a slight scraping of the 

 bottom in, say, a stagnant pool has some influence on the distribution 

 and circulation of muddy material. It is difficult, on the other hand, 

 for the fishermen to recognise that the ' foulness ' of the bay has not 

 been caused by the Devon Committee's by-laws, but is due to its 

 geographical situation and the weakness of its tides and currents. In 

 the summer time, indeed, it is a veritable sink for a great part of 

 the debris of the great West Bay, and it has sufficient decomposing 

 material in its own composition to serve three or four bays. 



" The trawling stations in Torbay are four in number, as follows : — 



" Station IV. From Paignton Head to Torquay Harbour, half a mile 

 from the shore. The bottom-soil is fine sand and mud, and the depth 

 3 to 4 fathoms. [Haul No. 4 on September 11th extended eastwards 

 beyond Brixham breakwater. — W. G.] 



" Station IVa. Eound the ' Rough ' from Paignton Head to off 

 Ellbury, thence outward towards Brixham breakwater. The bottom 

 soil is at first sand, later mud, and the depth from 3 to 4 fathoms. 



" Station V. Centre of the bay, on line Brixham breakwater to llsham 

 Valley, between Torquay and Hope's Nose. The bottom -soil is mud, 

 and the depth 6 fathoms. 



" Station VI. On line Berry Head to Orestone. The bottom soil is 

 again mud, and the depth 8 to 10 fathoms. [This station lies just out- 

 side the limit fixed by the Devon Sea Fisheries Committee. — W. G.] 



" The stations in Torbay differ less from one another than those of 

 Start Bay, but the proportions of the various species of fish are, on the 

 whole, similar. The dabs and plaice are the most numerous, whilst 

 the remaining species taken together are fewer in numbers than the 

 plaice by itself." 



The following table represents the results of the Oithona's catches in 

 Torbay during the year reduced to the average catch per hour for each 

 of the four stations : — 



