[ 2'.)6 ] 



Report on 

 Trawling in Bays on the South Coast of Devon. 



SUBMITTED FOR THE INFORMATION OF THE 

 DEVON SEA FISHERIES COMMITTEE. 



By 

 Ernest W. L. Holt. 



The investigations dealt with in this memorandum were commenced 

 in the autumn of 1895, and have been carried on, as opportunity- 

 permitted, until July of the present year. The observations were made 

 in 1895 and 1896 by Mr. F. B. Stead, in 1897 by Mr. S. D. Scott and 

 myself, and in 1898 by myself. A preliminary memorandum, dealing 

 with the observations made in 1895, has already been submitted to the 

 Committee by Mr. Stead. As a matter of general convenience it is 

 reprinted as an appendix to this Eeport. 



The area included in our enquiry consists of Start Bay, Torbay, and 

 Teignmouth Bay. By a bye-law of the Fisheries Committee, confirmed 

 June 27th, 1893, it was made illegal to use a fish-trawl in these bays, 

 and I presume that the assistance of the Marine Biological Association 

 was invited in order that the Committee might learn to what extent 

 their prohibition of trawling may be justified by the biological con- 

 ditions of the grounds concerned. 



Before proceeding to review our results I must advert to the inade- 

 quacy of our records, which is due to the insufficiency of the means at 

 our disposal. The grounds lie at a considerable distance from Plymouth, 

 and in order to carry out our work we have been obliged either to hire 

 a Brixham sailing trawler, or to take round the Laboratory steam-launch, 

 which cannot often be spared from her regular duties. If we hired a 

 trawler, we had to take our chance of the weather, with the probability 

 of finding the wind either too strong or too light for satisfactory working. 

 Moreover, although it was possible at a good deal of personal incon- 

 venience to accurately record the catch, subsidiary observations of great 



