RAPPORTS. XIV: MASTERMAN 



exceedingly variable with a great irregularity due to chance occurrences which seem to 

 quite obscure any regular seasonal variations that may be present. 



There appears to be an accumulation of these fish in the spring and summer, May 

 and June being the height of the spawning season. The later summer catches are gen- 

 erally small and then an increase some time during the autumn occurs, more especially 

 in the offshore areas. 



The detailed comparison between these results and those already obtained from gen- 

 eral statistics, in this and previous Reports, is full of interest. In general, they com- 

 pletely corroborate the latter, especially so far as the plaice and sole are concerned. All 

 the essential characters of topographical and seasonal distribution of these species as 

 shown in this and previous Reports are confirmed, a result which is satisfactory as 

 tending to show that the value of general statistics for these purposes is not vitiated by 

 their many suggested sources of error. The much larger scale upon which the general 

 statistics are collected seems to largely compensate for the greater accuracy and finer 

 detail of the special statistics. 



In the first Report on Pleuronectidae it was indicated that one of the chief applica- 



Day's Absence 

 Hours' fishing 



for 



tions of Special Returns consisted in the determination of the ratio 

 each unit of area. 



In a useful appendix to this report the authoress makes the attempt to bring the 

 catch per diem and the catch per 10 hours' fishing into relation with one another by 

 determining a constant or standard of conversion for each area or zone of areas. 



In the accompanying table, the Areas are arranged in 5 zones, according to their 

 average distance from English ports, and opposite each zone (of about 70 miles) is given 

 the average number of hours' fishing to each day's absence from port, as derived from 

 the original figures. In the First Report it was remarked "So far as is known, it is prob- 



able that the ratio of number of hours' fishing to days' absence ^ increases as the 



length of voyage decreases because in the longer voyage the greater number of days 

 must generally be devoted to the passage to and from the grounds" (p. 11). 



This table gives a complete confirmation of this suggestion. For grounds not more 

 than 70 miles distant the number of hours' Ashing to days' absence from port is roughly 

 17 and for each addition of 70 miles or 80 the number of hours per diem falls by one 

 unit till 13 is reached for grounds beyond 280. 



