5 



tanks with constant flow of water, which we used last 

 year. Five sets of rocking boxes have, therefore, been 

 ordered from Norwa3^ where they are made under the 

 direction of Capt. Dannevig, and are expected to arrive at 

 Piel in a few days. They will be set up along the east 

 wall of the tank-house, and the plain tanks, which will 

 also be in use this coming season, are now being moved into 

 the adjoining portion of the verandah, which is being 

 enclosed for the purpose so as to form an extension of the 

 tank-house.* 



The provision of a satisfactory spawning pond, in which 

 the parent fish can be kept in considerable numbers until 

 they produce their eggs, is a more difficult matter. The 

 Scientific Sub-Committee have had the matter under 

 consideration at several meetings, and I have gone care- 

 fully into the question of alternative sites, on the ground, 

 with the Chairman, the Superintendent, Mr. Scott, and 

 the Engineer to the Railway Co. (our landlords at Piel). 

 The difficulty is to get a site which is sufficiently near to 

 the hatchery, sufficiently protected from heavy seas, 

 which can be excavated to a sufficient depth, and which 

 will enable the pond to be constructed at a reasonable 

 cost. A tidal pond, such as that now being constructed 

 at Bay of Nigg, Aberdeen, by the Fishery Board for 

 Scotland, has certain obvious advantages, the chief of 

 which is that no pumping is required, but it is open to 

 the objection that it must of necessity (at Piel) be on the 

 shore, and, therefore, exposed to the seas. 



We are trusting for one year more to such supplies of 

 spawn as can be obtained by the steamer or from the 

 trawlers, but if these supplies are as poor as they were 

 last year, we shall require in early summer, at the latest, 



* Since the above was written the liatching boxes have aniveil, ami the 

 necessary changes in the acconnnodation have been carried out. 



