of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



101 



Late on the .same night the vessel began operations in the Moi'ay 

 Filth. The first haul was made on the witch grounds off Lossiemouth, 

 and yielded 1^ baskets of witches, nine cod, one ling, and a few 

 haddocks. Five hauls in Burghead Bay, further to the west, in from 

 five to twenty-five fathoms, gave good results. In one case the net, 

 when brought to deck, was found to have been torn, and the catch was 

 relatively small, but in the other four hauls, representing twelve hours 

 and fifty minutes of actual trawling, 6010 fishes were caught, of which 

 1382 (chiefiy plaice) were marketable and 3628 were unmarketable. 

 The particulars ai'C as follow : — 



There were also taken six red gurnards, three solenettes, one sandy 

 ray, one grey skate, one catfish, and 62 anglers, the catfish being 

 mai-ketable, and two of the anglers were also included in this category. 

 Here it may be said that while the anglers, as a rule, are killed and 

 thrown overboard, in some cases, especially when they ai-e large, the 

 head is cut ofi" and the remainder skinned and taken to market. They 

 are sold under the name of " John Dory," and the flesh is palatable — 

 the men, indeed, c)n board the " Garland " relished it. The practice 

 depends mainly on the inclination of the skipper or mate, and I have 

 observed that English skippers are most prone to preserve such " ofial." 

 The same remark applies to the preservation for market of small fish, 

 e.g., plaice, and of gurnards, although in the latter case the state of the 

 market (as to prices), the season, and the general productiveness of the 

 hauls, affect the practice. When good hauls are being got little atten- 

 tion is paid to gurnards. Gui^nards, however, along with dabs, codling, 

 and haddocks, form the main part of the fish used on board by the 

 crew. 



Steaming further north a series of hauls were begun in the Dornoch 

 Firth on 3rd August, where the conditions were found to have very 

 much improved, plaice, especially, being much more numerous than on 

 the previous occasions. In nine hauls, representing 26| hours' actual 

 trawUng, in from five to twelve fathoms, 15,932 fishes were secured, of 

 which 15,032 were flat-fishes. The number marketable was 6291 and 

 the number unmarketable 9641, as follows : — 



[Table. 



