30 



Newfoundland over 500 million of young Lobsters were 

 hatched and set free last season, in addition to millions 

 of Cod. Even the comparatively small hatchery just 

 erected at Dunbar, and which I have had the advantage 

 of visiting through the kindness of Dr. Fulton, will ac- 

 commodate 80 million eggs at one time, and can of 

 course by choosing the fish judiciously be used for many 

 such batches in succession during a season — say from 

 January to July. 



I would now strongly advocate the establishment of a 

 small Sea Fish Hatchery for this district, such as I 

 suggested in my memorandum to the Committee dated 

 April 26th, 1892; and I am of opinion that by far the best 

 situation for such a purpose would be Port Erin at the 

 South end of the Isle of Man. The Liverpool Marine 

 Biology Committee have erected at Port Erin a small 

 Biological Station in which work has now been carried on 

 since last June so I can speak with an intimate knowledge 

 of the conditions there, and I can confidently say that 

 there is no place on the Lancashire or Cheshire coasts 

 which would present equal advantages. The sea- water at 

 Port Erin is perfectly pure — a primary requisite — while 

 along our own coasts the water seems not to be any where 

 sufficiently pure and free from mud and decaying matters 

 to be used for hatching purposes. At Port Erin there are 

 rocky creeks which could be readily enclosed to serve as 

 ponds for collecting the spawning fish in, and there is one 

 large tidal pool on the shore close to the present Biological 

 Station which might at very small expense, by the erection 

 of small pieces of wall between the rocks (see PI. V.), 

 be enlarged to more than twice its present size so as to 

 form a pond measuring about 40 by 20 feet and 6 feet in 

 depth. Another decided advantage in having the Fish 

 Hatchery at Port Erin would be that time, labour, and 



