28 



Part III. — Twenty-second Annual Report 



tion of the poor takes was probably the very large quantity of weed 

 which was found in the net, which was with difficulty cleansed of it, 

 experience showing that under such circumstances fish are usually scarce. 



On leaving Burghead Bay the vessel proceeded to the ground off 

 Lossiemouth, where a haul was made in from eleven to fourteen fathoms, 

 about three miles off. The net was hauled in fifty minutes, and it con- 

 tained 278 fishes, of which only forty- one were marketable, viz. forty 

 plaice and one black or common sole. The unmarketable fishes num- 

 bered 237, and consisted of common dabs, small plaice, and gurnards, of 

 which there were 110. The weather both here and at Burghead Bay 

 was quite calm, the sea smooth, and there was a slight fog. 



The vessel then steamed to the Dornoch Firth, where a number of drags 

 Were taken. In the first, which lasted for only twenty-eight minutes, the 

 net having caught on something on the bottom, ninety-five fishes were taken, 

 of which forty-one were marketable and fifty-four unmarketable. They 

 consisted mostly of plaice and common dabs ; only one haddock was 

 obtained, and there were no whitings. For the time the net was fishing 

 the catch was fairly good, and a " dan " was put down and a few of the 

 succeeding hauls were made around it. In the first of these, in from 

 five to eleven fathoms, and in two hours and forty-two minutes actual 

 fishing, a large bag of fish was secured. The total number of fishes was 

 4928, of which 1555 were marketable and 3373 unmarketable. With 

 the exception of fifty gurnards and twenty-four thornbacks, they were 

 all flat-fishes and nearly all plaice. These numbered no less than 4638, 

 of which 1525 were marketable and 3113 unmarketable; the former 

 consisted of eleven" large," 205 "mediums," 370 "small," and 939 

 " fourths." The small unmarketable plaice measured from three and 

 three-quarter inches up to ten inches in length. The catch also included 

 four brill and six flounders. 



In the next recorded haul, on the same ground and lasting for four 

 hours, 4859 fishes were taken, of which 1318 were marketable and 3541 

 unmarketable. The great bulk again consisted of plaice, which numbered 

 4517, and of these 1211 were marketable and 3306 unmarketable. The 

 other marketable fishes included one turbot, one brill, eighty-five common 

 dabs, one lemon dab, and nineteen thornbacks. The small " offal " 

 plaice were of the same sizes as in the former haul, and their great 

 abundance showed how destructive the otter-trawl may be on such 

 shallow-water grounds in certain cases. In the two hauls forty-three 

 thornbacks were got, and the males greatly preponderated. In fifty-six 

 examined from these and other catches, there were fifty-one males and 

 only five females — a proportion the reverse of what usually obtains.* 

 The larger and medium-sized gurnards were spawning, and they were 

 found to be feeding on shore-crabs. 



Owing to the quantity of small plaice taken, it was decided to shift a 

 little further out so as to avoid the shallow water, and the result was immedi- 

 ately apparent. In the first haul made here, in from nine to thirteen 

 fathoms, the " bag " was not so large, but the fish were of better size. 

 The haul lasted for four hours and two minutes, and the fishes caught 

 numbered 1144, of which 432 were marketable and 712 unmarketable. 

 The former included 412 plaice, of a total of 1105, the large numbering 

 twenty-eight, the medium fifty-eight, the small 110, and the fourths 216. 

 There were also two cod, ten common dabs, two flounders, one cat-fish, 

 and five thornbacks. The fourth class of marketable plaice consisted of 

 fish measuring from 23 centimetres (nine inches) to a little over 31 centi- 

 metres (twelve and a half inches), and the unmarketable from 19 '8 cm. 



* Twmty-first Annual Ilrjwrt, Part III., p. 230. 



