384 THE SEA FISHERIES OF IRELAND. 



practical utility of such work in connection with the administration and 

 development of our fisheries has received public recognition. 



The first step in this direction was the organisation in 1890 and 1891 by 

 the Royal Dublin Society of a survey of the fishing grounds on the west 

 coast. For this purpose a steam yacht was chartered in each of the years 

 mentioned, and was equipped for all descriptions of fishing opyerations, and 

 ■ for biological and physical observations. The grounds were surveyed in as 

 thorough a manner as possible, and the results carefully recorded. 



Towards the expenses of the survey Her Majesty's treasury contributed 

 a sum equal to half of the estimated cost ; but as the estimate was consider- 

 ably exceeded, much more than half the actual cost was defrayed by the 

 Society. One of the Inspectors of Irish Fisheries acted as director of the 

 survey, and other gentlemen were employed in the capacity of naturalists 

 and physicists. 



At the time of the survey there were practically no fisheries of import- 

 ance on the west coast, and the great development which has since taken 

 place may be attributed in large measure to the information which was 

 obtained by the survey. 



In 1898 the Royal Dublin Society once more entered the field of fisheries 

 research, and, having obtained from Her Majesty's Treasury a grant of 

 money equal to half the proposed cost, proceeded to establish a Marine 

 Laboratory for the purpose of studying, for a period of five years, the 

 various problems affecting the mackerel fishery and the proceedings of 

 salmon in the sea. The laboratory commenced work in February, 1899. 



Its management, subject to the control of a Joint Committee in regard 

 to the branches of research mentioned above, has since been handed over to 

 the Fisheries Branch of the Department of Agriculture. 



As the field of observation was not intended to be confined to one par- 

 ticular district, it was essential that the laboratory should be capable of 

 being moved from one place to another. Frame houses fulfil this condi- 

 tion, but are understood to be generally more easy to take to pieces than 

 to put together again. Moreover, in the case of any building on land, fresh 

 difficulty and expense in regard of site and supply of sea water would have 

 arisen whenever the locus was changed. 



A floating structure is free of these disadvantages, and, if moored in 

 sheltered water, is almost always sufficiently stable for the use of delicate 

 scientific instruments. 



The Fisheries Department of the Danish Government have for some 

 years used a floating laboratory, chiefly, if not entirely, within the fjords. It 

 is a specially constructed floating house. In Scotland trial was made of 

 a much smaller structure of a similar kind, but, possibly from want of care in 

 the selection of a site for mooring, the experiment was not considered a 

 success, although no similar difficulty appears to have been encountered by 

 the Danish investigators. 



Considerations both of sea worthiness and economy suggested the con- 

 version of a sea-going ship into a laboratory, and the Society accordingly 

 purchased the bngantine Saturn, of Galway, of about 220 gross tonnage. 



To ensure the maximum of stability when at anchor, it was necessary to 

 sacrifice all means of locomotion by removing all overhead gear, except the 

 lower fore-mast, which was required to take a derrick. 



The hold was floored throughout, and divided by a partition into two 

 apartments. The larger of these, about 35 feet by 20 feet, was fitted as a 



