SCIENTIFIC REPORTS. 



I. REPORT ON THE TRAWLING EXPERIMENTS OF THE 

 "GARLAND," AND ON THE FISHERY STATISTICS 

 RELATING THERETO. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



During last year the trawling investigations of the " Garland " were 

 conducted in the Moray Firth, the Fiith of Forth, and the Fii'th of 

 Clyde, and a number of special hauls were made with the shrimp-net 

 and with small-meshed nets. The work at each station consists in — - 

 (1) trawling along a selected line for a specified distance, d(;termined 

 usually by cross-bearings, all the fish caught being enumerated, measured, 

 and recorded ; (2) observations on the temperature, density, and 

 transparency of the water, on the condition of the weather, &c. ; 

 (3) collections of the pelagic organisms floating in the water. The 

 Tables relating to the chief of these investigations will be found 

 appended to this Repoi't, 



The fishery statistics which have been collected in the districts of the 

 Moray Firth in connection with the ti"awling experiments there, and 

 which show the quantities of the various kinds of fish cavight by line 

 fishermen within the closed waters in each month of the year, and for 

 the whole year, with the respective averages per "shot" of the lines, 

 are also appended, and are discussed below. These statistics were 

 collected under the supervision of the Fishery Ofiicers of the various 

 districts concerned. The trawling records were made by Mr. F. G, 

 Pearcey, the naturalist on board tlie " Garland." 



As in former years, the work of the " Garland " was frequently 

 interrupted by stormy weather, especially during the winter and autumn 

 months, her small size reqviiring her to lie up for considerable pei'iods 

 in port. To the detentions from this cause were added those arising 

 from the necessity of repairs and the annual overhaul, after which she 

 was ordered to proceed to the West Coast. 



The insufficiency of the vessel for the work she was intended to 

 perform has been referred to in previous Reports, with respect not only 

 to her unseawoi'thiness, but to the ineft'ectiveness of her small trawl 

 in catching fish. In this particular the hauls of the commercial 

 trawlers (p. 92) form a striking contrast, 

 c 



