sea-fisheries laboratory. 257 



Influence of Different Kinds of Fishing. 



It was not always possible to obtain information as to 

 the method of fishing by means of which the marked 

 fishes were recaught. The following list has been 

 compiled from the tables of particulars of fish recaught : — 



Method of Fishing. 



No. of Marked Fish 

 Returned. 



1st class sailing trawlers 



64 



2nd class sailing trawlers 



37 



Stake nets 



23 



Steam trawlers 



16 



Baulks 



7 



Gill nets 



7 



" Set nets," " trammels," " tees," lines, salmon 



nets. 

 Information not given. 



5 



8 



It will be noticed that fishing by means of first class 

 trawlers (smacks) apparently predominates in the " home 

 grounds " of the Irish Sea. The proportions between the 

 various methods of fishing by means of which the marked 

 fishes have been recaught are almost exactly those 

 compiled from the experiments of 1905. 



Rate of Growth of Plaice in the Irish Sea. 



In attempting to deduce the rate of growth of plaice 

 from the marking experiments, two series of figures are 

 made use of — (1) those indicating the increase in length 

 of the marked fish which were set free before the 

 beginning of the season during which growth takes place, 

 that is April-September. The defect in this series is the 

 small number of recaptures during the latter half of the 

 year. It has been found during the two last years that 

 even if a fairly large number of marked fishes have been 

 liberated before the end of March, quite a small proportion 

 will be recaught during the autumn and winter. One 

 s 



