44 



Appendices to Fifth Annual Report 



1 1. This bye-law shall extend and apply to (1) the Firth of Forth 

 c inside or to the west of a straight line drawn from Tantallon Castle on 

 1 the south shore of the Firth to the Lighthouse on the Isle of May, and 

 ' thence to Fifeness ; (2) St Andrews Bay and the Firth of Tay, sofar 



* as they lie inside or to the west of a straight line drawn from Fifeness 

 ' to the Fairway buoy at the mouth of the Tay, and thence to the land ; 

 1 (3) that part of the sea off the coast of Aberdeenshire and Kincardine- 

 ' shire, which lies inside or to the west of a straight line drawn from the 

 1 Cruden Scars Rocks to a point one and a half miles east (magnetic) 

 ' of Girdleness Lighthouse. 



' II. Within the foresaid limits, no person, unless in the service of the 

 ' Fishery Board for Scotland, shall at any time, from the date when this 

 ' bye-law comes into force, use any beam trawl for taking sea fish, and 

 ' the master, or the person actually in command, of any vessel acting in 



* contravention of this bye-law shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not 



* exceeding .£100, and failing immediate payment of the fine, to imprison- 

 1 ment for a period not exceeding sixty days, without prejudice to dili- 

 ' gence by poinding or imprisonment, if no imprisonment has followed on 

 ' the conviction — all in terms of the said Act.' 



This bye-law came into force on Monday, the 5th of April 1886. 



The bye-law having been passed and confirmed, it was necessary to 

 make arrangements to discover, if possible, what influence the prohibition 

 of trawling would have in leading to an increase of fish in the protected 

 waters. At the outset it was evident that it would be necessary to make 

 systematic observations on the various areas by trawling along the same 

 lines, and as nearly as possible under the same conditions, as the ordinary 

 steam trawlers ; and further, that it would be equally necessary to obtain 

 as far as possible a record of the fish captured day by day from the 

 various grounds in the Firth of Forth, St Andrews and Aberdeen Bays. 



Accordingly representations were made pointing out that a small steam 

 vessel, provided with trawling gear and other appliances, was indis- 

 pensable. 



An application for a sum of money to purchase and maintain a trawl- 

 ing vessel was made by the Board to the Secretary for Scotland (His 

 Grace the Duke of Eichmond and Gordon, K.T.), and after full expla- 

 nations were made by one of us (Professor Ewart) the sum of £3000 was 

 placed on the estimates for the purpose. After due inquiries had been 

 made, the steam fishing yacht 1 Garland ' was purchased from Mr Woodall, 

 of Scarborough, for the sum of £2500. To save time as far as possible, 

 the above negotiations were begun soon after the bye-law was made, and 

 a few days after the bye-law was confirmed the 4 Garland' reached Granton, 

 in order to be fitted out for the trawling experiments contemplated. 



The ' Garland ' is an iron fishing yacht with accessory steam power. 

 She was built in 1880 at Dumbarton ; her length over all is 92 feet, 

 breadth 15 feet 10 inches, depth 8 J feet, and she is rigged as a fore-and-aft 

 schooner. 



Before beginning the trawling and other work it was necessary to provide 

 the vessel with a steam winch, trawling gear, dredges, &c, and later it 

 was found desirable to add a small bridge to admit of a better 1 look-out ' 

 being kept when at work during the night in the vicinity of small fishing 

 boats, often imperfectly protected by lights. The beam of the trawl 

 provided is 25 feet in length, i.e., about half the length of those used by 

 the ordinary steam trawlers. This size was selected partly to suit the 

 weight of the ship, and partly to cause as little disturbance as possible to 

 the fishing grounds when under periodical inspection. 



