of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



25 



in reality spent, but a few mature eggs could still be squeezed from them. 

 The sizes of these were as follows : — Males, 392, 420, 440 mm. ; females, 

 520, 530, 595, 625, 685 mm. These fishes were got in from 12 to 25 

 fathoms. Besides these, 3 males and 43 females were nearly ripe, the 

 sizes of which were as follows, in millimetres : — 

 Males— 395, 415, 436 mm. 



Females— 386, 1)88, 391, 392, 393, 400, 400, 403, 409, 412, 412, 415, 

 419, 420, 420, 420, 420, 420, 431, 435, 440, 443, 445, 456, 457, 460, 

 460, 401, 470, 476, 481, 488, 501, 505, 508, 510, 530, 550, 564, 595, 

 634, 655, 674. 



The smallest of the females indicated as immature measured 21*8 cm., 

 and the largest 46 cm. ; the smallest of the males was 20*5 cm., and the 

 largest 43 cm. 



Four nearly ripe female plaice were also obtained in one of the hauls in 

 from 23 to 29 fathoms, five miles off the Suters of Cromarty. Their 

 sizes were as follows : — 498, 511, 561, 704 mm. 



In the previous year, at the very end of March (30th and 31st), a few 

 spawning and spent plaice were taken at the outer part of Dornoch Firth, 

 but they were not numerous.* 



In a previous year at the latter part of January and in the middle of 

 February, spawning plaice were got in large numbers on Smith Bank and 

 a little to the south of it.f 



Only one ripe haddock was found ; it was a male, one of 62 large 

 specimens caught in 23-29 fathoms, five miles east of the Suters of 

 Cromarty, on 7th February. Haddocks, however, and especially large 

 haddocks, were very scarce during the trip. 



Flounders, which were taken in large numbers, were not as a rule quite 

 ripe. Ripe males were obtained a few miles off Burghead in from 17 to 

 25 fathoms, and ripe males and females were taken in the Dornoch Firth. 

 Most of the females were full and nearly ripe, but not spawning. As 

 previously stated, flounders migrate to the deeper waters offshore in spring, 

 for the purpose of spawning, and are then caught in the trawl in considerable 

 numbers. A large one was caught in from 23 to 29 fathoms, about 5 

 miles off the Suters of Cromarty. In the Dornoch Firth as many as 

 140 and 166 were taken in single hauls. 



None of the turbot or brill taken were ripe. The number of these 

 fishes got at Burghead Bay was large, viz., in the nine hauls 146 brill 

 and 21 turbot. Five brill and a turbot were also secured in the deeper 

 water off the Suters of Cromarty. In one of the hauls off Burghead, 37 

 brill were captured, in another 21, and in a third 18. All the specimens 

 of both species were large enough to be marketable, which is the usual 

 experience ; and their abundance was no doubt associated with the 

 presence of herrings on the ground. 



II. 



At the end of March a series of trawlings was made in Aberdeen Bay 

 by the steam-trawler "Fifeness," from the morning of the 27th to the 

 morning of the 29th. Fish were remarkably scarce, with the exception 

 of cod and codling, of which a considerable number were taken. 

 Haddocks were practically absent from the grounds, only a few being got. 

 The wind during the continuance of the work was from the south-east at 

 first, and later from the south-west, and it was a moderate breeze. The 

 first ordinary haul was taken in from 6 to 10 fathoms, between Donmouth 



* Twenty -third Annual Report, Part III., p. 21. 

 f Seventh Annual Report, Part III., p. 171. 



