of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



Ixiii 



Board approached the Development Commissioners with the view of 

 obtaining a grant for the provision and maintenance of a m.otor boat 

 suitable for the work. The application was favourably entertained, 

 but, owing to the outbreak of the war, the matter has, in the mean- 

 time, been postponed. 



The Races of the Herring. 



For some time the question of the existence and definition of 

 different races of the herring has received considerable attention from 

 fishery experts, as it has an important relation to many fishery 

 problems. Professor Heincke, the Director of the Biological Institute, 

 Heligoland, and one of the greatest authorities on the natural history 

 of the herring, has described a considerable number of different races 

 among the herrings inhabiting European seas, and his conclusions 

 have been hitherto very generally accepted. In a paper entitled 

 A Short Resume of the Researches into the European Races of Herrings 

 and the Method of Investigation, published last year,* Dr. H. C. 

 Williamson gives a brief account of the methods and conclusions of 

 Professor Heincke and some other investigators. He discusses the 

 characters which seem to be of most importance in distinguishing 

 between different races of the herring, and lays stress upon the advan- 

 tage of having a uniform list of characters which might be adopted by 

 all investigators, particularly in connection with the international 

 investigations. Since, however, it is understood that Professor 

 Heincke has now abandoned many of the characters upon which he 

 formerly relied, viz. the measurement of soft parts, it would appear 

 that the whole question of the distinction of races among herrings 

 requires renewed investigation. 



Fishery Investigations in the North Sea. 



Since the 1st April 1910, when the international investigations in 

 the North Sea were placed under the direct control of the Board, the 

 fishery investigations of the research steamer, the " Goldseeker," have 

 been under Dr. Fulton's charge, and have been carried out according 

 to a monthly scheme submitted to and approved by the Board. The 

 following is a summary of the work done last year : — 



Trawling Investigations. 



The investigations by the " Goldseeker " were last year very 

 considerably curtailed. At the beginning of the year it was found 

 necessary that the vessel should undergo a very thorough overhaul, 

 and it was laid up at Leith for the first two months of the year. Then, 

 at the beginning of August, on the outbreak of the war, the vessel was 

 withdrawn from its ordinary duties and utilised by the Admiralty. 

 In consequence of these facts, comparatively little scientific work was 

 accomplished by the vessel. 



Altogether, 21 hauls were made with the trawl nets (as compared 

 with 186 in the previous year), namely : — 8 with the beam trawl and 

 13 with the otter trawl, with special cod-ends, in continuation of the 

 experiments in herring trawling. 



* Fisheries, Scotland, Scientific Invest., 1914, i. (April 1914). 



