INVESTIGATIONS IN ST ANDREWS BAY, 1893. 121 



Average per Haul. 





Plaice 



Dabs 



Total 



1891 



48 



86 



134 



1892 



41 



34 



75 



1893 



56 



27 



83 



The total per haul of these was therefore greatest in 1891, 

 and that while there was a rise in plaice in 1893, there was a 

 diminution in dabs. On the other hand the total captures of 

 haddocks for the three years were respectively 56, 227 and 858, 

 a progressively increasing number. 



In the summary^ it was stated that on the whole there was 

 a considerable increase in flat fishes and a great increase in 

 round fishes in the waters from which beam-trawling was pro- 

 hibited. Unfortunately, when contrasted with the total aver- 

 ages for 1886 the result is a diminution of 5 in 1893, a fact 

 which disposes of the theory of gradual accumulation, and at 

 the same time shows the uncertainty ever attendant on fishing 

 operations. Again, the great increase which was noticed in the 

 haddocks off the east coast generally this year affected the bay so 

 far as to raise the percentage of haddocks from 5 in 1892 to 26 

 in 1893. 



The relation of the paucity of fishes with the preponderance 

 of cold months was further illustrated this year, for four out 

 of the six, viz. January, February, March, and November were 

 more or less in this category. If, for instance, the totals (sale- 

 able and unsaleable) for these months are investigated it is 

 found that the fishes caught in the months of June and July 

 are about five times as numerous. This feature has, perhaps, 

 not been sufficiently estimated by those dealing with the 

 subject. Some explain it by asserting that there is a summer 

 migration of flat fishes (e.g. plaice and dabs) to the shallower 

 water ; while others perhaps suppose that these fishes keep in 

 the sand in cold weather. No observations made by the 

 "Garland" clear up this point, a feature, however, familiar to 

 fishermen. 



1 12th Ann. Report, iii. p. 32. 



