130 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



We see that 147 plaice were liberated in this 

 experiment and that 36, or about 24^ per cent, have been 

 recaught up to the present time. In the corresponding 

 experiments of last year on this station 90 plaice in all 

 were liberated, and if we consider the recaptures of this 

 year we find that 42 of these fishes have now been 

 accounted for, that is 46^ per cent., so we may expect that 

 a number of the fishes liberated in July, 1907, will yet be 

 recaptured. As in former years, most of the fishes 

 liberated near Nelson Buoy in the summer months are 

 recaptured on the fishing grounds to the S. and W., 

 only six fishes have been taken close inshore, and there is 

 a rough indication of a migration to the South and West 

 during the summer and autumn months. It is well known 

 that there is a very intense plaice fishery on the fishery 

 grounds lying roughly between the Liverpool N.W. Light 

 Ship and the Morecambe Bay Light Ship during the 

 months July to October, that is, plaice are very abundant 

 here during the period in question. Now we may ask, 

 where do these fishes come from ? and only an imperfect 

 answer to this question is afforded by the results of mark- 

 ing experiments. But if we refer to Plate I, representing 

 the results of Experiment 1, 1907, it will be seen that a 

 number of the fishes set free in the Menai Straits in 

 February, 1907, have been recaught on the fishing 

 grounds to the W. and S. from Nelson Buoy. I have no 

 doubt that the majority of the fish caught here have 

 migrated out from the shallow water grounds in the bays 

 and estuaries during the spring months, and that the 

 migration is a feeding one, since one finds that the plaice 

 caught there during the summer and autumn fishery 

 always have their stomachs full of food. The results of 

 Experiment 2 of 1906 also lead to the same conclusion, for 

 we find (see Plate I) thai some of the fishes caught in the 



