69 



of providing some substitute for the present destructive 

 method of fishing. 



2*^ The erection of some plain Mussel bouchots so as to 

 catch spat (Report II., p. 79) with the view of forming 

 fresh Mussel beds or re-stocking old ones. 



3"^ The establishment of a Sea-fish hatchery (this Rep., 

 p. 33) with the object of doing all that is possible to add 

 to the population of the sea. 



Other points which we have raised in these reports, 

 such as the determination of the spawning grounds, feeding 

 grounds and nurseries, the question of the "vitality" of 

 fish caught in trawls, the distribution of immature fish, 

 the size at maturity and the benefit of the imposition of a 

 " size limit," have all now been more or less completely 

 determined and settled. There still remain, however, 

 unsolved or only partially solved problems, and new ones 

 are arising as a result of the discussion of our statistics, 

 both these collected in the laboratory and also those taken 

 at sea by the steamer in carrying out the scheme of 

 investigation recommended in our first Report. 



We propose in the coming year, in addition to the 

 usual statistics on the food, maturity, growth, &c., of 

 fishes, and any questions that may arise therefrom, to 

 investigate more closely the shell-fish on the beds, and to 

 pay special attention to the spawning of fish and to the 

 larval and other immature stages. 



