of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



235 



In Table I. are recorded the prevailing physical conditions on each 

 occasion when trawling was conducted, and also the particulars connected 

 with, and the result of, each haul. Days with similar transparency of 

 the water were selected as far as possible for the work, but owing to the 

 exposure of the locality during the winter it was often necessary to take 

 advantage of any opportunity that offered when the weather permitted of 

 trawling in the shallow water. For some considerable intervals it was 

 very risky to approach the shore in the boat, and the work had to be 

 suspended for the time. 



It was observed to be a general rule that (1) if the water was clear and 

 calm the smallest fishes (below 100 m.m.) were found in the shallow 

 water above the 15ft. limit, while the larger sizes were captured 

 principally at greater depths ; (2) if the transparency of the water waa 

 low, and the sea smooth, the larger fishes were mixed amongst the small 

 ones close inshore ; while (3) if there was any sea on, the smallest fishes 

 were found in the deep water, and the larger ones were scattered all over 

 at various depths. It may be mentioned, as a curious circumstance, that 

 the youngest plaice were invariably found to be most abundant in the 

 same depth of water as the common shrimp. As all the plaice captured 

 on each date represent the sizes for that time, the results of the various 

 hauls have been combined into one series. These series are represented 

 in Table II., where also the detailed measurements, reduced to the nearest 

 0 or 5 in millimetres, are given. 



[Table. 



