SEA-FISHERIES LABORATORY. 



235 



torial waters of the Firth of Forth and St. Andrew's Bay, 

 they took very full statistics of the fish caught on these 

 areas. These statistics extended over 10 years, and in the 

 Ifeport of the Fishery Board for 1895* they are 

 summarized. This table is given in the Report for 1898. 



1886-1890 

 1891-1895 



Number of 

 hauls. 



325 

 466 



Plaice and 



Lemon Soles 



caught. 



29,869 

 28,011 



Dabs and long 



rough Dabs 



caught. 



19,825 

 29,183 



In this case trawling observations shewed that, during 

 the 10 years in which the grounds had been closed, plaice 

 and lemon soles had decreased, while the coarse fish, dabs 

 and long rough dabs, had increased. Dr. Fulton 

 attributed this to the fact that a great increase of trawling 

 had taken place during these ten years on the grounds 

 outside the closed area ; and that spawning plaice and 

 lemon soles, which frequent these off-shore areas, had 

 decreased in consequence of this increased fishing, and that 

 the in-shore grounds had been robbed of fry and young 

 fishes. On the other hands, dabs and long rough dabs 

 were not caught to the same extent, because these fishes, 

 when mature, frequent in-shore waters to a greater extent 

 than plaice and lemon soles, and spawn there. Further, 

 they are smaller fishes, and so escape capture to a greater 

 extent. 



Kow, this argument may apply also to our in-shore 

 and off-shore grounds off the N.W. Coast of England, but 

 it is also just possible that there may be another explana- 

 tion. The figures I have quoted from the Committee's 

 * Part 3, p. 25 ; see also Eeport for 1898, pt. 3, p. 128. 



