8 



Part III — Seventeenth Annual Report 



a 25-feet beam trawl. Were the " Garland " replaced by an efficient 

 sea-going vessel, capable of using a large trawl, as recommended by 

 the Parliamentary Committee of 1893, it would be possible to con- 

 duct the trawling investigations more satisfactorily, and at the same 

 time to extend the observations to the important fishing grounds 

 lying at some distance from the shore, where the principal spawning 

 areas are situated. It is in this direction that we must look in 

 future for the greatest advances in the scientific knowledge of the 

 problems connected with the regulation and conservation of the 

 sea fisheries. 



The Influence of Trawling. 



The results of the trawling investigations carried on in 1898, 

 together with the various Tables embodying the detailed observations, 

 are given in a special report (p. 17). In the course of the year the 

 stations in the Moray Firth and the Firth of Clyde were examined 

 in May, June, August, September, October, November, and Decem- 

 ber, and the stations in Aberdeen Bay in April and May. The 

 work in the latter part of the year was much interrupted by stormy 

 weather. So far as the observations go, they show that in the Moray 

 Firth the average number of fiat-fishes captured in each haul of the 

 net increased from 149 in 1897 to 167*7 last year. The increase 

 was confined to dabs. Common dabs increased from an average 

 per haul of 100*2 in the previous year to an average of 120*9. 

 Long rough dabs also slightly increased in numbers from an average 

 of 18*8 in 1897 to 19*1 last year. On the other hand, the averages 

 for plaice and lemon soles decreased to a slight extent — plaice from 

 19*7 to 18*3, and lemon soles from 6*3 to 5*4. Among round-fishes 

 the average per haul for the whole area was 48*8, as compared with 

 32-8 in the previous year, and 49*4 in 1896. The increase was 

 principally in gurnards. 



As explained in previous Eeports, the trawling investigations in 

 the Moray Fifth have not been carried on for a period sufficiently 

 long or on a scale sufficiently extensive to enable conclusions to be 

 drawn from them with any degree of certainty as to the results of 

 the closure of the Firth. The extent of the Firth is great, and the 

 number of hauls which have been made at the various stations 

 within it is but little over 200, most of which have been made since 

 the whole Firth was closed in 1892. 



The special statistics of the fish caught by line fishermen within 

 the Moray Firth since 1894 are of considerable interest, especially 

 in relation to the abundance of round-fishes in the various years. 

 They show the number of " shots " of the line made by the large 

 and small boats within the closed waters, the quantities of the 

 various kinds of fishes caught in this way, and the average weight 

 of the catches for each shot of the line. The following figures indi- 

 cate the quantities and the averages per "shot" in each of the 

 districts : — 



