I.— REPORT ON THE TRAWLING EXPERIMENTS OF THE 

 ' GARLAND,' AND ON THE STATISTICS OF EAST 

 COAST FISHERIES RELATING THERETO. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



As stated in last year's Report the trawling experiments carried on by 

 means of the ' Garland ' have for the present been suspended in the Firth 

 of Forth and St Andrews Bay, where they were most systematically and 

 regularly conducted for a number of years. The general results, so far as 

 concerns the mo^t important subject of the experiments in these waters, 

 the increase or decraase in the abundance of the food-fishes since beam- 

 trawling was prohibited, were set forth in the Report last year.* They 

 showed that while the relative numbers of most of the round-fishes, such 

 as cod and haddock, and the unimportant flat-fishes, the dabs, had slightly 

 increased, there was a decrease among the more valuable flat-fishes, the 

 plaice and lemon sole ; a circumstance probably due to the increased 

 trawling in the offshore areas where these fishes spawn. 



During the year 1896 the trawling operations of the 'Garland' were 

 for the most part confined to the Moray Firth and the Clyde. In 

 January and February 32 hauls of the trawl-net were made in the Firth 

 of Forth and St Andrews Bay, and thereafter 147 hauls were made in the 

 Moray Firth and in the Clyde area, the stations in one or other of these 

 areas being examined in April, August, October, and November. In 

 addition to the trawling operations, other investigations and observations 

 were made on board the ' Garland ' during the year, such as on the nature 

 and distribution of the pelagic fauna, on the invertebrate fauna obtained 

 in the trawl-net, on the distribution of the pelagic eggs and larvae of the 

 food-fishes, and the distribution of immature and spawning fishes. In 

 April and August the vessel was employed in making investigations on 

 the distribution and reproduction of diatoms, under Dr George Murray 

 of the British Museum ; a report on this subject is contained in the present 

 Report. In April and September Dr H. R. Mill carried on an investiga- 

 tion on the physical conditions of the Clyde sea-area, the results of which 

 are also embodied in a paper in this Report. In connection with the sea- 

 fish hatchery at Dunbar the ' Garland ' was engaged in procuring adult 

 flat-fishes, and in transporting the fry ; and physical observations on the 

 temperature, salinity, and transparency of the sea were made at the 

 various trawling stations. 



The statistics collected in connection with the trawling experiments 

 in the Moray Firth, showing the quantities of the various kinds of fish 

 caught by line fishermen within the closed waters in each month of the 

 year, and for the whole year, are appended to this Report, and are 

 discussed below. The collection of these statistics was made by the 

 Fishery Officers of the respective districts, or by their correspondents. 

 The trawling records were almost all kept by Mr Thomas Scott, F.L.S.; 

 occasionally by Captain Campbell in command of the 1 Garland.' I have 

 to thank Mr J. G. Anderson for assistance in tabulating the statistics. 

 * Fourteenth Annual Report, Part iii. p. 128. 



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