ST ANDREWS BAY. SUMMARY. 125 



tions during the period. In 1892, however, one half the 

 hauls were in wintry months, viz., in February, March, No- 

 vember and December, while an intermediate month — April — 

 also tended to lower the percentage. The comparison, there- 

 fore, with such a year as 1887, in which the hauls were all in 

 productive months leads to erroneous conclusions. In dealing 

 with St Andrews Bay, further, the remarkable activity of the 

 local fishermen in scattering their lines throughout the area 

 for the capture of plaice must have tended to interfere with 

 the exact observations of the closured This point indeed was 

 specially brought up at the Royal Commission in 1884 when the 

 closure of the bay was suggested, but, as it would have been a 

 hardship on the local fishermen, it was decided to exclude trawlers 

 only. This factor therefore is one that should not be overlooked. 



In the report, for the better illustration of the position, 

 the first half has been contrasted with the last half of the 

 period, viz., 1886-1890 with 1891-1895, and it was found 

 that the average for the former period was 290 per haul, 

 while in the latter period it w^as only 184 per haul, or a 

 reduction of more than 100 fishes per haul. A basis is thus 

 afforded for concluding that this progressive decrease, especially 

 in flat fishes — so predominant in St Andrews Bay, is due to two 

 causes, viz. general over-fishing in the open area, and, secondly, 

 the destruction of too many of the spawning fishes on which 

 the supply of floating eggs is dependent. Therefore it is pro- 

 posed to extend the closure to the open area beyond the 

 three-mile limit where such would include the " spawning 

 areas" of the food-fishes. 



But, before suggesting a step so important it would have 

 been well to study the foundations on which the opinion 

 rested. If a map (Table I.) is made of the months during 

 which the hauls took place in the first period, viz., from 1886 

 to 1890, it will be found that the hauls are thickly dotted in 

 the months of August and October, and have a preponderance 

 in September. Briefly, two examinations of the areas took 

 place in May in the first period (1886-90), whereas only 

 one occurred in the second. Four examinations in August, 



1 Vide p. 112. 



