TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT. 
TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE 
LORD BALFOUR or BURLEIGH, 
His Majesty's Secretary for Scotland. 
OrriceE oF THE FisHery Boarn 
FOR SCOTLAND, 
Epinpurcu, 3rd June, 1903. 
My Lorp, 
In continuation of our Twenty-first Annual Report, we 
have the honour to submit— 
PART IIL—SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS. 
GENERAL STATEMENT. 
This part of the Twenty-first Annual Report contains an account 
of the scientific investigations conducted by the Board in 1902 in 
connection with the sea fisheries of Scotland, so far as the same 
have been completed. In previous Reports it was explained that 
owing to the small size and unseaworthy qualities of the Garland 
it was scarcely possible to carry on the investigations in the off- 
shore waters, on the fishing grounds from which the bulk of the 
fish supply is drawn; and also that for the same reasons the 
experimenis and observations in the Moray Firth and other areas 
had been hampered and curtailed. The Garland was at length 
disposed of in the course of last year. 
His Majesty's Government have now agreed to take part, 
together with the other nations of northern Europe, in a systematic 
investigation of the North Sea and adjacent waters, with a view to 
the elucidation of various problems connected with the Fisheries. 
The British share in this International Investigation has been 
divided into two parts, and the Board, at the request of His 
Majesty’s Government, has undertaken the control of the northern 
half. The International Programme includes hydrographical 
