LO Fishery Board for Scotland. 
are the largest for this locality. Observations made at the outer 
limits of the estuary show that the larval sand-eels are present in the 
plankton in March in considerable number, and the following 
average results would seem to show that the Fife coast is the most 
favoured locality : — 
Vertical Horizontal Hauls, half-hour duration. 
Locality. Haul. Surface. Mid-water. Bottom. 
Fife Coast, . t 11 23 2,731 840 
W. of May Island, 34 550 850 372 
The frequencies found at those localities within the Firth of 
Forth between the May Island and Inchkeith have always been low, 
and the conditions for spawning are more like those found at the 
inner than at the outer limits of the estuary. Indeed, the greatest 
number obtained on any particular occasion within this area was 
caught in Kirkcaldy Bay on the 25th of March, 1909, when six 
specimens were got in the vertical net, 14, 170, and 200 in the 
surface, mid-water, and bottom tow-nets respectively, for hauls of 
one half-hour’s duration. 
In the area just outside the estuary of the Forth the following 
average results have been obtained : — 
Vertical Horizontal Hauls, half-hour duration. 
Haul. Surface. Mid-water. Bottom. 
16 112 870 117 
The larvee was found in greatest abundance on March 26th, 1909, 
when the following record was obtained :— 
30 610 1,738 534 
It may therefore be stated generally that the estuary of the Firth 
of Forth is a spawning area for the sand-eel and that the conditions 
for spawning are less favourable from the mouth inwards, and the 
frequency is very low in the neighbourhood of Inchkeith. In the 
vicinity of the May Island and the Fife coast, where the frequency 
is greatest, larvee may sometimes be found in the plankton as early 
as February. Even although this area is an early one for the 
hatching of sand-eels, the frequencies fall very far short of those 
found in the Orkney area. 
The sounds and voes of the Shetland Islands may be dismissed 
very briefly. Observations were made at Bressay Light, Lerwick 
Harbour, Tofts Voe, Dales Voe, and Sullom Voe, and Yell Sound, 
and at all these places larvee were found in the month of March. 
The numbers were always very small, and seldom or never were any 
obtained in hauls with a vertical net. The average numbers for 
hauls of one half-hour’s duration with a metre cheese-cloth net at 
surface, mid-water, and bottom are 5, 11, and 12 respectively. In 
the shallow and sheltered localities of the Shetlands, therefore, 
larval sand-eels are very rare in the first quarter of the year. 
Lastly, the somewhat outlying region of the Minch. The 
observations made in this area tally with those made in the North 
Sea. No larval sand-eels were found in February, but with the 
advent of March they appear in numbers at various localities. The 
