12 MAKKKTAHLE BRITISH MARINK FISHES 



lishmcnt of the new Fishery Board for Scotland in 1882. The 

 old J'^ishcry l^oard, whose official title was the Board of British 

 White Herrini^ Fishery, was dissolved. The first members of 

 the new Board were : — Sir Thomas J. Boyd, chairman ; John 

 Guthrie Smith, Sheriff of Aberdeen, Kincardine and Banff, dcpiity- 

 c/iainnan ; George H. Thoms, Fsq., Sheriff of Caithness, Orkney 

 and Shetland ; Alexander Forbes Irvine, Esq., Sheriff of Argyle ; 

 Sir James Ramsay Gibson-Maitland, Bart. ; Stephen William- 

 son, Esq., M.P. ; Professor Cossar Ewart, M.D. ; James Maxtone 

 Graham, Esq. ; James Johnstone Grieve, Esq. ; Mr. Dugald 

 Graham, secretary ; Archibald Young, Esq., Advocate, Inspector 

 of the Salmon Fisheries of Scotland. 



The new Board being not only required to make suggestions 

 for the improvement of the Fisheries, but being empowered also 

 to take such measures for their improvement as the funds under 

 their administration and not otherwise appropriated might admit 

 of, and taking into consideration also the important practical 

 results obtained by the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries, 

 decided to institute investigations into the habits and life-history 

 of some of the more important food-fishes, such as the herring 

 cod, ling, haddock, mackerel, sole, plaice, and flounder. 



The following questions are mentioned in the First Annual 

 Report, 1883, as deserving careful investigation : — 



(i) The food, life-history, distribution, and migrations of 

 useful fishes. 



(2) The nature of the feeding and spawning grounds of food 

 fishes. 



(3) The period of spawning, nature of the ova, the time 

 required for, and the conditions favourable to, hatching. 



(4) What nieans can be adopted for the protection offish 

 during their early stages of growth, and what can be 

 done to prevent the destruction of immature fish. 



(5) What new useful fishes (such as the American shad and 

 the land-locked salmon) can be introduced, and how far 

 the supply of our present forms can be increased by 

 artificial cultivation or protection during the spawning 

 period. 



(6) The influence of atmospheric variations, and of the 

 changes of the temperature of the water, and of cur- 

 rents, on the presence and migrations of fish, and the 



