6 Part I1T—Twenty-fourth Annual Report 
one of the poorest on record, the shortage on the previous year’s 
catch, which was much below the average, amounting to 3160 
crans in quantity and £6243 in value. The work has been done 
as far as was possible by the use of fishing boats and the hire of a 
small yacht for monthly observations within the loch itself, and 
this had to be interrupted during the winter. 
The investigations into the condition of the fishing-grounds in 
the Moray Firth were made as far as possible by the use of 
commercial trawlers, without expense, as referred to more fully 
below, and the observations on the growth, reproduction, and distri- 
bution of the edible fishes continued as in the last few years, as 
well as those on the destruction and capture of immature and 
undersized fishes. Owing to the unfortunate stranding of one of 
these vessels in Aberdeen Bay last December, while engaged in 
procuring plaice for the hatchery-ponds, and the loss of life 
occasioned thereby, the Board have thought it right to refrain from 
making use of such vessels for inshore work in future. 
As mentioned later, the Board has been pleased with the favour- 
able response of seaboard County Councils to their invitation 
to send fishermen to the Marine Laboratory and Hatchery at 
Aberdeen for a week’s instruction, each spring, in the life-history 
of fishes, and they hope that the facilities offered may be still 
further taken advantage of. 
TRAWLING INVESTIGATIONS. 
During the last few years, since the Gurland was disposed of, 
the fishing grounds in certain parts of the territorial waters, 
especially in the Moray Firth and Aberdeen Bay, have been 
examined from time to time by means of commercial steam- 
trawlers, whose services were obtained without expense, partly 
with the view of ascertaining their condition and partly for the 
purpose of scientific research on the reproduction, growth, and 
distribution of fishes, and the capture of immature or undersized 
fish. A number of papers embodying the results of this work have 
already been published in previous Annual Reports. In the present 
Report there are two containing further observations by Dr. 
Fulton, one on the growth of fishes, referred to later, and the 
other furnishing an account of the trawling experiments last year, 
with detailed tables of the fish captured and the proportions which 
were unmarketable. 
The more important areas in the Moray Firth were visited in 
February, September, October, and November, and the grounds in 
Aberdeen Bay were also examined in March. The aggregate 
quantity of fish brought to the market in the various trips was 
3883 ewts., and the total number of fishes caught in the recorded 
hauls was 71,982, of which 41,444, or over 59 per cent., were 
unmarketable. 
On most of the occasions marketable fish were by no means 
plentiful, and the voyages were not very profitable financially. 
This was particularly noteworthy in the Moray Firth in the 
autumn months, at which time the vessels working on the offshore 
grounds in the North Sea were much more successful. Haddocks 
