20 



(1) A large number (over 42 %) have been stranded and 

 found and returned, 



(2) of these returned, only a small proportion (13 %) 

 have been carried out of our part of the Irish Sea, 



(3) nearly 12 % have crossed the "head of the tide," 

 showing either the influence of wind in carrying floating 

 bodies over from one tidal system into another, or the 

 effect of that slow drift of water to the north referred to 

 above, 



(4) most of the bottles set free to the west of the Isle 

 of Man have been carried across to Ireland, only a small 

 number (3 ' 8 %) of them have got round to the eastern 

 side of the Island and been carried ashore on the English 

 coasts, 



(5) the majority of the bottles set free off Dalby have 

 gone to the Co. Down coast, 



(6) a considerable number of bottles have been set free 

 over the deep water to the east cf the Isle of Man, where 

 our more valuable flat fish spawn, and of those that 

 have been returned the majority had been carried to the 

 Lancashire, Cheshire and Cumberland coasts. 



So we may reasonably conclude that the embryos of 

 fish spawning off Dalby would tend to be carried across 

 to the Irish Coast, while those of fish spawning in the 

 deep loater on this eastern side of the Isle of Man ivould 

 go to supply the nurseries in the shallow Lancashire and 

 Cheshire bays, and very few would, be carried altogether 

 out of the district. 



The bearing of this conclusion upon the site of a Sea- 

 Fish Hatchery for our district is obvious. It would not 

 do to set the newly hatched larvae free anywhere near the 

 Lancashire or Cheshire coasts. Besides the muddiness 

 and varying specific gravity of the water to which they 

 would there be exposed, they would run too much risk of 



