108 FISHERY board's OPINION OF RESULTS, 1887. 



In 1887 a Committee of the Scottish Fishery Board in 

 referring to the progress of the scientific work gave a pre- 

 liminary outline of the methods by which they hoped to obtain 

 information and such was chiefly based on the advice they had 

 received. 



In treating of the results of the year's trawling by the 

 "Garland" in the closed area of the Forth and just beyond it, 

 the reporters observe \ "Conversely, while there has been a 

 general advance in the numbers of flat fish at all the stations 

 in both series, the rise at the inner stations has been by far 

 most marked, the average increase here in 1887 being 128 per 

 shot, while at the three outer it was only 22 per shot." They 

 further state " that at the outer series of stations the increase 

 has been greatest in lemon soles, next in plaice, and least of all 

 in dabs. At the inner group, on the other hand, the augmen- 

 tation has been chiefly in plaice, closely followed by dabs, and 

 at some distance by lemon soles." At the two stations in the 

 free waters (stations 8 and 9) "plaice and lemon soles have 

 increased more than dabs." 



In St Andrews Bay the increase was found "to be even 

 more marked than in the Forth." They state that, as might 

 have been expected from the physical characters of St Andrews 

 Bay, "the increase has consisted principally of flat fish, although 

 the round fish have also increased to a very considerable degree. 

 ...Cod, which is rare in the bay, diminished; whiting remained 

 about the same, but there was a large increase in haddocks and 

 also in gurnards." The station in the free waters outside showed 

 a diminution in plaice, increase of lemon-dabs, dabs and skate. 

 Whiting have diminished, and haddocks and gurnards have 

 increased. The reporters mention that they have had several 

 instances of the " replacement of the round fishes by the flat, 

 and vice versa." 



The trawling experiments in Aberdeen Bay, a station 

 specially selected as one on which a large amount of trawling 

 had been carried on, were stopped. It would have been 

 important to have noted the changes in the fish-fauna of this 

 bay, especially as it so freely communicated with the open sea 

 1 eth Ann. Report, S. F. B., p. 29. 



