SEA-FISHERIES LABORATORY. 115 



December) 102 of these have been returned to me. In 

 addition to these fishes 47 others marked and liberated 

 during 1905 and 1906 have also been returned, making 

 149 recaptures in all. No attempt was made to mark 

 other fishes than plaice during 1907, but we hope in the 

 coming year to devote some attention to flounders. As in 

 former years, I am convinced that quite a number of 

 marked plaice are captured and are not reported to me. 

 One hears, now and then, of fish that have been captured 

 for some time, and it is curious that over and over again 

 marked plaice are recaught by the same boats. One could 

 draw up a list of smacks that have caught what is 

 apparently far more than their share of marked fishes, 

 and I am inclined to suspect that many fishes, caught 

 perhaps during the dark, are not noticed. Most of the 

 fishermen on the West Coast of England must now know 

 about these experiments, but it appears that until a 

 skipper has caught one or more marked fish he and his 

 men do not examine their catches so carefully as to avoid 

 the risk of a marked fish going unnoticed. 



As before, I am greatly indebted to those who have 

 taken the trouble to send me marked fishes handed to 

 them. This applies particularly to Messrs. Harley and 

 Miller, of the Liverpool Fish Market, Messrs. Dean and 

 Houldsworth (members of the Committee) ; Mr. Eobert 

 Knox, of Douglas ; and Mr. A. J. Rust, of Milford Haven. 

 Captain Jones, Head Bailiff at the Carnarvon Station, has 

 also taken a great amount of trouble to forward me all 

 fish given to him, and has been most careful in supplying 

 all the necessary information of recapture, &c. 



I give all the details of recapture in the tables that 

 follow. The " general summary " gives the total results 



tof the experiments of the year, and includes, also, marked 



