SEA-FISHERIES LABORATORY. 183 



investigating for the Committee — the official fishery 

 statistics for this district. 



Mr. Scott and Mr. Johnstone have been engaged for 

 the greater part of the past year in their usual work, and 

 the present Report contains the usual evidence of their 

 labours. The hatching operations at Piel have been 

 carried on with care and devotion and have resulted, I 

 am convinced, in as successful results as are possible 

 under the existing conditions. Mr. Scott is badly handi- 

 capped by the want of an open-air pond, and it is very 

 creditable that he has turned out such a large number of 

 flatfish fry as over thirteen and a half millions, and that 

 the hatching is effected with such a small loss as about 

 11 per cent. Mr. Scott's detailed account of the work 

 will be found further on. 



The next most important part of our work at Piel is 

 probably the provision of practical classes for fishermen. 

 These seem to increase in popularity as the j^ears go on, 

 and this year 130 applications were received for the 45 

 possible places in the laboratoiy. The syllabus of work 

 in these classes for fishermen which we published in last 

 year's report proved so useful, that it has been revised by 

 Mr. Johnstone and issued this year as a separate publica- 

 tion with some additional figures. The list of the classes 

 held at Piel given further on in this Report shows that 

 in addition to the classes for Lancashire a similar class 

 for Cheshire fishermen (arranged by Mr. A. T. Wright) 

 met for the first time. A nature-study class for school 

 teachers was also successfully carried on by Mr. Johnstone 

 and Mr. Scott. 



For many years past the investigation of the 

 " plankton " or microscopic life floating at or near the 

 surface of the sea, and captured in the tow-nets, has been 

 carried on for this district bv mv late friend Mr. Isaac 



