16 
it was closed against trawling by the Fishing Board for - 
Scotland. Permission was courteously given by that 
Board for our Fisheries Steamer to trawl in the Bay. It 
was late in the year for such in-shore waters, when we 
made our visit, yet a good number of mature Plaice were 
secured in a single day’ trawling. The weather was 
favourable for the passage to Piel. After a run of nearly 
nine hours the fish were landed in good condition and 
placed in our tanks. The fact that we have to go to closed 
waters for our spawning fish, is a good proof that protected 
grounds, in which all trawling is prohibited, are undoubtedly 
a benefit to the fisheries. They are the means of preserving 
the maturing fish, and so of ensuring that at least some 
fish will be left to spawn. With no protection, and the 
improved methods for catching fish that are now employed, 
the adult fish, especially of sedentary species like the 
Plaice, would soon be as scarce as they now are in the 
Irish Sea between Lancashire and the Isle of Man, where 
they were formerly plentiful. 
During the hatching season of 1901 we had upwards of 
250 flounders in the tanks. The ratio of sexes, as far as 
could be judged by size, was three females to two males. 
The males of flat fishes are, as a rule, smaller than the 
females; but there is no certain guide from external appear- 
ances unless the fish are ready to shed the reproductive 
elements. The females are then recognisable by the very 
swollen abdomen. Consequently there are usually a num- 
ber of fish amongst the stock that do not reproduce owing 
to immaturity. These cannot be detected when the fish 
are collected. The fish were collected in Barrow Channel 
by Mr. Wright, as in former years, and kept in tanks till 
the spawning season was over, when they were set free. 
