3 
at seeing the fish pond there, and evidently regarded it as 
a necessary addition to any hatchery. I would repeat 
again what I stated to the Committee last year, that no 
hatchery is complete without a spawning and rearing 
pond, and that the want of one at Piel seriously impedes 
Mr. Scott’s operations. 
ra wince Re sa lt sit 
an) 
We are now preparing for the hatching work of the 
coming season, and once more we are indebted to the 
courtesy of the Fishery Board for Scotland for permission 
to trawl for large plaice in their closed waters of Luce 
Bay. As before the Fishery Board asked us to make 
observations and to give them a record of our results. 
Two trips were made to Luce Bay in October and Novem- 
ber and our Naturalists who accompanied the steamer 
were able to make a series of interesting hauls on both 
oceasions. The results are fully discussed by Mr. John- 
stone in his article on ‘‘ Trawling Observations,” which 
will be found below. These results confirm those obtained 
in 1902, and reinforce the conclusions which I drew in 
last year’s Report as to the remarkable differences in the 
catches which may result from very slight differences in 
the positions and conditions of the grounds trawled. The 
bearing of these observations upon the danger of any 
attempts to draw conclusions from samples taken 
relatively far apart, even on areas where uniform condi- 
tions are supposed to obtain, must be obvious. 
Mr. Johnstone also draws attention to the very large 
average size of the plaice in the closed Scottish waters, 
and shows how the much smaller size on the Lancashire 
coast may be regarded as the natural result of constant 
and practically unrestricted fishing. 
