of the Fisheri/ Board for Scotland. 



327 



ill the cod-end of tlie net, being about 1| inches from knot to knot, 

 immense numbers of the smaller tishes escape through the apertures ; 

 and consequently the younger series or generations of the larger fishes, 

 and all or almost all the series of those fishes which when adult do not 

 attain a great size, may not be represented in the catch. Thus, with the 

 ordinary otter-trawl, only a few of the larger individuals of haddock or 

 whiting under one year of age are taken, while nearly all the Norway 

 pouts and herrings, most of the dabs, and all the sprats, escape capture. 

 With the ordinary otter-trawl it is only the measurements of the larger 

 fishes which are of value. In order to obtain the small fishes which pass 

 through the meshes of the tvawl, I made use of a fine-meshed net 

 twenty-five feet long attached to the upper edge of the cod-end, and 

 enveloping it loosely in its whole extent. It was tied about a yard 

 behind the termination of the cod-end, and when the net was brought up 

 and swung over the deck the fish in the small-meslied net were allowed 

 to fall into tubs and baskets, and were then removed from the " fish- 

 pond " Itefore the cod-end was opened. When working on rougliish or 

 hard ground the outer net was occasionally chafed, and this sometimes 

 occurred also on a sandy bottom when the cod-end of the trawl-net 

 happened to be old and heavy. It was therefore an improvement to lace 

 the fine-meshed net to a specially made cod-end of our own, with one- 

 inch meshes (to relieve the pressure on the fine-net when small fish were 

 abundant), and to substitute this fur the ordinary cod-end, which could 

 be done in about twenty minutes. A further improvement is tc buoy the 

 end of the net with a " pallet " or large float, used by fishermen, which 

 helps to raise it from the bottom, and when working on the edge of 

 hard ground to use a piece of old sail as a chafer under the net. 



The small-meshed net referred to was made of hemp, with meshes about 

 ABC 



Fui. I.— Showing the Meshes of the Nets employed. 



one centimetre (| inch) square (A, Fig. 1) ; but while this net was found 

 sufficient to retain the great majority of small fishes which entered it— 

 and in autumn all the young haddocks, for example — experiment showed 

 that many of the smaller fishes on the bottom, especially in the summer, 

 were not taken. This was shown by attaching a third net, with still 

 smaller meshes (B, Fig. 1) around the end of the second net. In this 



