8 



Part III. — Tirentieth Annual Report 



fry produced. In this connection it may be stated that the 

 Government of New South Wales has decided to erect a similar 

 Marine Hatchery for Colonial and European fishes at Port Hacking, 

 near Sydney, and that, with the co-operation of the Department, 

 the experiment of introducing European food-fishes and Crustacea 

 to the waters of the Colony is now being made, the first shipment 

 of living plaice, soles, turbot, brill, lobsters, and crabs having been 

 despatched under suitable arrangements. 



As stated in last year's Eeport, the Technical Education Com- 

 mittee of the County Council of Aberdeen made a grant of £200 

 to assist in providing tanks at the Marine Laboratory on condition 

 that facilities were granted for the instruction of fishermen from 

 the county. The first series of demonstrations to selected fishermen 

 from various parts of the coast has now been given, and it is 

 satisfactory to state that the fishermen showed an intelligent 

 interest in the instruction they received. 



The Influence of Trawling. 



The results of the trawling experiments of the Garland, together 

 with the various Tables embodying the observations in detail, and 

 the statistics of line-fishing in the Moray Firth, are given in a 

 separate Report (p. 17). The experiments were made mostly in 

 the Firth of Clyde and Firth of Forth. The work was considerably 

 interrupted by stormy weather and the necessity of taking the 

 vessel into harbour for repairs. 



The hauls made in the Moray Firth were too few to enable 

 a comparison of the results to be made with those in previous 

 years, but the statistics showing the catches by line-fishermen 

 within the Moray Firth indicate a considerable fall in the gross 

 quantity of fish caught, and a slight decrease in the average catch 

 per shot of the line. The quantity is the lowest since these 

 statistics began to be collected in 1894, as one might expect from 

 the gradual decadence of line-fishing on the Scottish coast generally, 

 which is referred to in Part I. cf the Annual Pteport (p. xxi.). 



The quantities and the average catch per shot are given in the 

 following Table for each of the seven districts during the last six 

 years : — 



