SEA-FISHERIES LABORATORY. 189 



FISH HATCHING AT PIEL. 

 By Andrew Scott, A.L.S. 



The fish hatching conducted in the spring of 1912 

 produced results almost similar to those of previous 

 years. The adult plaice were collected in Luce Bay, by 

 the kind permission of the Fishery Board for Scotland, 

 early in September, 1911. The temperature of the air 

 and sea was unusually high at the time of our visit to 

 the bay, and for some days after the fish had been landed 

 at Piel and placed in the tanks. We had, therefore, 

 considerable difficulty in keeping them alive. It was 

 only by maintaining a greater flow of water through the 

 tanks than would have been required under ordinary 

 circumstances that the fish remained healthy, and very 

 few deaths occurred. The fixing of the date of the visit 

 to Luce Bay as early as the beginning of September in 

 1911 was chiefly due to the rough weather which had 

 been so frequently experienced in previous years on the 

 passage back to Piel with the fish. A later date has 

 given us less trouble, even although the weather be 

 somewhat unsettled. The knowledge acquired for 

 regulating the flow of water through the tanks while the 

 fish are on board, and the careful management of the 

 steamer by Captain Wignall to avoid unnecessary 

 disturbance of the fish, enable us to carry them to Piel 

 in comparative safety. The flounders were obtained 

 from the channel in the vicinity of Piel by the police 

 cutter stationed in' the northern division of the district. 



The first fertilised flounder eggs were secured on 



