TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION D. 639 



begun, a set wbicli could be compared with notLing which had been done pre- 

 viously, which wa3 then being done, or which would be done in future. The 

 Scotch Board, however, did not wait for some decisive results of these experiments, 

 but proceeded to close areas and present a Eeport of its own — which, brietiy| 

 was to the effect that a considerable increase had occurred in the fishes of the areas' 

 closed, and therefore it recommended further closures, and this uotwithstandino- 

 the inefficiency of the ship the Board had selected for the experiments. After ten 

 • years' experiments with the same unreliable ship, the Board came to the conclusion 

 that, while round fishes had kept up their numbers, flat fishes had diminished in 

 the closed areas from the excessive trawling in the regions beyond the three- 

 mile limit. Consequently, it looked for important results from its experiments in 

 the vast area of the Moray Firth, which has been closed for ten years. It is to be 

 regretted, however, that the closure of this great off"-shore area has produced no 

 other result than is shown in the following quotation from the Board's Eeport for 

 1900 ^ : ' The quantity of fishes procured by the Garland is therefore small, and 

 furnishes a most inadequate basis for any conclusions as to the effect of the closure 

 of so wide an area as the Moray Firth. The incompetence of the vessel for the 



work it was intended to perform— from other reasons than its unseaworthiness 



has been frequently pointed out in previous reports.' It is seldom that so candid 

 an admission is made (1) of the mistake of purchasing such a vessel ; and (2) of the 

 validity of the criticisms in the ' Resources of the Sea." Whilst these remarks are 

 made, it has to be borne in mind that the early impressions of the Board, viz., that 

 the closure of an area increased its fishes, probably led to misapprehensions. Even 

 if it ha,d been practicable to prove this, the methods and materials were inadequate. 

 Fisheries have been as variable in the olden time as now, and wherever long- 

 continued and accurate observations have been carried out the reasons brought 

 forward in support of the impoverishment of the sea are found to be slender. 



A careful survey of the mode in which the important scientific observations 

 entrusted to the Scotch Department have been carried out does not inspire 

 confidence. 



Certain proposals for the improvement of the Fisheries, as well as those of the 

 International Scheme of Fisheries' Investigations, may now be considered. 



Foremost amongst the former is the necessity for improved statistics. In 

 Scotland the records now show what certainly has been taken, but it is doubtful 

 if all that has been taken is recorded. The present incomplete state of the statistics 

 of the fisheries m England and in Ireland is much more clamant. In dealing 

 with the statistics of the fisheries of the United Kingdom, therefore, as a basis on 

 which to urge expensive and important measures, great caution is required, and 

 this especially applies to the international scheme. 



A necessity exists also for the careful survey of the oflf-shore and in-shore 

 fishing-grounds. The close relation between these has frequently been pointed out 

 emce 1884 onwards. The life-histories of the food-fishes would thus be advanced 

 and the ambiguities connected with the use of such a term as 'nurseries of plaice' 

 dispelled. *^ 



But, besides the ordinary off"-shore fishing-grounds, the conditions still farther 

 from land are important. If, as the writer has often said, the food-fishes, or certain 

 of them, stretch far outwards on both shores of the Atlantic, the closure of the 

 tiny strip of three miles round the shores of Great Britain is insignificant. 



_ Such investigations should be undertaken by the central authority, for the sea 

 with Its pelogic contents, is not the property of a local committee, but is the pro- 

 perty of the nation. ^ 



In the international scheme hydrographical work occupies a prominent 

 position, yet hitherto the results of meteorological, hydrographical, and other 

 physical investigations in connection with the sea-fisheries have not been of such 

 promise as to warrant their being placed in the foreground. The statement that 

 It IS probable that changes in the water in the North Sea must profoundly aflfect 

 the fishes has yet to be proved. When one reflects that the ways and methods of 



' Part III., p. 19, 19th Eeport, 1891. 



