Dec. 8, 1887] 



NATURE 



133 



an increase of fish in the protected waters. At the outset 

 it was evident that it would be necessary to make syste- 

 matic observations on the various areas by trawling along 

 the same lines, and as nearly as possible under the same 

 conditions, as the ordinary steam trawlers ; and further, 

 that it would be equally necessary to obtain as far as 

 possible a record of the fish captured day by day from 

 the various grounds in the Firth of Forth, St. Andrews 

 and Aberdeen Bays. 



Representations having been made that a small steam- 

 vessel properly fitted out was indispensable, and a sum 

 for the buying and maintenance of such a vessel having 

 been granted, the Garland, an iron fishing yacht, was 

 purchased and duly equipped. She was provided with a 

 steam winch, trawling gear, dredges, &c., and later it was 

 found desirable to add a small bridge to admit of a better 

 " look-out " being kept when at work during the night in 

 the vicinity of small fishing-boats, often imperfectly pro- 

 tected by lights. The beam of the trawl provided is 

 twenty-five feet in length, i.e. about half the length of 

 those used by the ordinary steam trawlers. This size 

 was selected partly to suit the weight of the ship, and 

 partly to cause as little disturbance as possible to the 

 fishing-grounds when under periodical inspection. Special 

 forms were prepared to admit of a complete record being 

 kept of the fish taken by the trawl, dredge, and tow-net, 

 and of the temperature, state of the weather, &c. The 

 Garland was supplied with charts, showing the extent 

 and direction in which the trawl was to be carried in 

 working over the various trawling stations, and with several 

 books of reference, bottles, tanks, &c., for the preserva- 

 tion of spawn, young fish, Crustacea, and other objects 

 which required to be afterwards examined or identified. 

 Recently a complete set of thermometers and other in- 

 struments for making physical observations have been 

 provided, and the necessary instructions given for their 

 use. 



In the present Report it is pointed out that the Firth of 

 Forth is well adapted either as a feeding-ground or a 

 nursery for the most important of our food-fishes and also 

 for shell-fish. As a matter of fact, there is not, it is stated, 

 on the east coast of England or anywhere else on the 

 coast of Scotland, a stretch of water with so many natural 

 advantages from the fishermen's point of view as the 

 Firth of Forth. The fresh water carries with it food for 

 mussels and other shell-fish. The sea brings in food for 

 herring and other round fish. The water varies consider- 

 ably in depth and salinity, and the bottom at one part 

 consists of sand or mud, at another of gravel or shingle, 

 and at another of rocks, sometimes bare, sometimes 

 covered with sea-weed, and the temperature throughout 

 the year is fairly constant, there never being great heat in 

 summer or very great cold in winter. The physical con- 

 ditions of St. Andrews Bay are entirely unlike those of 

 the Forth, and this being the case the fauna may naturally 

 be expected to differ considerably. There has not been 

 time to prepare a complete account of the fauna of St. 

 Andrews Bay during the different months of the year, but 

 it is hoped that with the help of Prof. Mcintosh a first list 

 will be ready for the next Report. It is, however, known 

 already that the rocky ground on the south shore is rich in 

 moUusks, Crustacea, marine worms, coelenterates,&c. ; and 

 that starfish and other echinoderms, edible, swimming, 

 and hermit crabs and other Crustacea are scattered in 

 abundance over the sandy bottom of the bay, and 

 especially that mussels abound near the mouth of the 

 Eden. Further, swimming or pelagic forms (including at 

 certain seasons of the year schools of young fish, 

 Crustacea, and mollusks) teem in the surface and deeper 

 waters. As is to be expected from the nature of the 

 bottom, flat fish far out-number round fish all over the 

 bay. The flat fish are chiefly represented by several 

 kinds of dabs, by plaice, flounders, skate, and brill, and at 

 times turbot ; and in addition the bay is visited by had- 



dock, whiting, cod, and other round fish. Aberdeen Bay 

 corresponds in some respects with St. Andrews Bay, but 

 the closed area includes not the bay proper so much as a 

 narrow portion of the territorial waters (some eighteen 

 miles in length) which extends from Girdle Ness to the 

 Cruden Scars. This area, very narrow at certain points, 

 never reaches a width of three miles. The Dee, Don, 

 and Ythan flow into the bay, but the fresh water flows 

 over the salt without mingling with it as in the Forth to 

 form a true estuary. The bottom consists chiefly of 

 sand, but towards the north and south sand gives 

 place to rock. The fauna resembles that found at St. 

 Andrews, but although flat fish are relatively plenti- 

 ful, whiting are far more abundant. It is to be 

 observed that, in comparing the prominent features 

 of the three districts investigated, the Firth of Forth 

 is characterized by an abundance of haddocks, St. 

 Andrews Bay by the predominance of flat fish, and 

 Aberdeen Bay by the large number of gurnards and 

 whitings. As regards the practical working of the by- 

 law, it is only necessary to add that although only a year 

 has elapsed since it was passed, providing for a limited 

 form of protection for the waters referred to, there are 

 already some signs of improvement both in the number 

 and size of the less migratory flat fish, and in the number 

 of young round fish which visit the territorial waters for 

 long or short periods. The fishermen of the Forth 

 and St. Andrews Bay state they are already obtaining 

 better takes of flat fish, and that they believe in a few 

 years the in-shore grounds will have recovered to a 

 considerable extent their former richness. 



Prof. Ewart gives an interesting paper on " The Arti- 

 ficial Hatching and Rearing of Sea Fish." The publication 

 last year of "The History of Howietoun" (Sir J. Ramsay 

 Gibson- Maitland) marks an epoch in the history of fish- 

 culture. It affords proof that the Salmonidse at least can 

 be bred and reared in confinement as successfully as any 

 of the smaller domestic animals, and that fish-culture, 

 notwithstanding all the reverses it has suffered through 

 the misplaced zeal and energy of its many would-be 

 advocates, has a great future before it, not only in re- 

 stocking our own' rivers and lakes, but also in peopling 

 the waters of all countries where the conditions are 

 favourable to the development and growth of the 

 Salmonidas and other valuable food-fishes. Fish-culture 

 at Howietoun has been reduced to a science. Every step 

 in the process, from the impregnation of the eggs to the 

 rearing of the mature fish, has been thoroughly mastered 

 and systematized. So careful have the observations 

 been from first to last, that it is now possible to produce, 

 within certain limits, considerable modifications in the 

 time at which the eggs mature and hatch, and in the 

 rate of growth of both the fry and the older fish ; and, 

 further, many hybrids have been bred, the genealogy of 

 which is not a little hard without the aid of an ancestral 

 tree to fully comprehend. 



The reasons for putting such knowledge acquired to a 

 practical application are that the demand for salmon is 

 greater than formerly, and the nature of the spawning- 

 grounds has been altered. Nature provides for all 

 natural losses, but she does not, and cannot be expected 

 to cope with those created by the necessities of civilization. 

 It is for science to step in and help to solve the problem 

 of supply and demand. 



Unlike the higher animals, fish are not protected in the 

 early stages, and the food-fishes even less than others. A 

 very limited acquaintance with the life-history of sea-fish 

 enables one to readily understand that, though the culture 

 of salmon and trout may be highly advantageous, and 

 often all but imperative, it does not follow that this is the 

 case with the herring and cod and their allies. The 

 most sanguine pisciculturist would scarce dare propose to 

 increase the number of the more migratory fish that live 

 in the open sea. It has been suggested that, by hatching 



