demonstrated from the results of the trawling experiments are 

 borne out by the statistics of the fishermen's catches. An analysis 

 of statistics, even with respect to line fishing, is sufficient to indicate 

 the broad distribution of the fishes in the inshore waters. In 

 figure 8 the two divisions of the county are indicated by the letters 

 N and S, and it is plain, as has already been shown, that plaice 

 are more plentiful in the north and dabs, at all events, are more 

 common in the south. It will be observed that during the period 

 dabs have suffered a decrease and plaice especially show the effects 

 of the more intense fishing of the years of the war. It is remark- 

 able that during these years so few dabs were obtained. By 

 means therefore of an appeal to statistics it is possible to show 

 that not merely in the Forth and the Northumberland regions 

 such a series of maxima and minima as we have found obtain, 

 but that it is a general fact of distribution. The condition is 

 not altogether due to fitness of ground, for it has been found 

 that plaics always tend to the north end of the bays and the 

 dabs to the south. So perhaps universally it may be said that 

 even with respect to small areas the plaice occur on the con- 

 tranatant side and the dabs on the denatant side, and other species 

 could be named which could be similarly contrasted. 



In the report for the year 1903 it was stated with regard to 

 plaice that growth took place proportionally, the breadth and other 

 measurements being proportional to length. The weight is pro- 

 portional to the cube of the length, and can be found from the 

 formula w = kV, where io = weight in ounces, k = -0067 and I 

 = length. This formula also allows of an estimate being made 

 of the number of fish of a known mean size in a given weight. 

 The plaice caught by the Northumberland fishermen measure on 

 the average 9| inches, and the mean annual catch since 1895 

 has been 350 cwts. The number of plaice caught each year by. 



the fishermen is found to be = — = 109,300. The 



•0067 x 9-53 



number of plaice landed on the Northumberland coast thus is 



on the average about 109,300 each year. 



The constant k with reference to the dab is -0061, and the 



number of dabs may be similarly stated to be = 80,000. The 



average size of dabs landed in Northumberland is 8 inches. 



