TRAWLING IN BAYS ON THE SOUTH COAST OF DEVON. 299 



STAKT BAY. 



LIST OF HAULS. 



In the subjoined list the details of locality, &c., entered in the records 

 of the various naturalists who have had charge of the observations have 

 been greatly condensed. For practical purposes the bay appears to be 

 divisible into two parts, the line of demarcation being from the Start to 

 the southern edge of the Skerries bank, along the bank, and from its 

 northern end, marked by the bell buoy, to Combe Point. The area 

 within this line is for the most part a smooth stretch of fine sand, from 

 6 to 10 fathoms. South of Torcross are a number of outlying rocks, 

 and towards the Skerries the sand gets coarse. Extending the area 

 a little to the north-west, we include all that part of the bay which 

 appears to be of much interest to trawlers. The usual professional 

 haul was made, according to my information, either parallel to the 

 sands or along the inner edge of the Skerries and to some distance 

 along the south edge. The coarse sand and shelly ground alongside 

 of the bank is presumably rich in crabs, since numbers of crab-pots 

 are set there ; and it may be well understood that the prosecution of 

 trawling and crabbing on the same ground did not tend to peace and 

 harmony. 



Such of our hauls as are described as " off the sands " were made 

 parallel to the shore, usually between Torcross and Eockvale, at 

 distances sufficiently indicated by the soundings. The initials " T." 

 and " B.B." indicate that the hauls so marked were made by the smack 

 Tliistle, of Brixham, and the Association's steam - yacht Busy Bee 

 respectively. The former carries a trawl of 40 ft. beam, the latter one 

 of 27 ft. beam. The difference in the size of the mesh of the two nets is 

 insufficient to require special attention. Sailing trawlers are generally 

 held to catch more soles than steam vessels. Otherwise, given equal 

 speed and equal skill, I suppose there is not much difference in catching 

 power. Everyone knows that trawling is usually more successful by 

 night than by day, but night-work offers great inconvenience when the 

 catch has to be examined and measured. I do not know to what 

 extent the difference of light affects the size as apart from the number 

 of fish caught. With one exception all our hauls were made in the 

 day-time. 



