20 



Part III. — Twenty-third Annual Report 



A haul for four hours was made in thirteen fathoms off Lossiemouth, 

 the vessel trawling around a dan, but the catch was very poor, the 

 number of marketable fishes secured being 191, and the unmarketable 

 79, a total of 270. There were 107 plaice, 36 haddocks, eight brill, a 

 cod, a catfish, and a lumpsucker in the catch. 



The next place visited was the Dornoch Firth. On 30th March the 

 trawl was dropped in sixteen fathoms, with Dunrobin Castle bearing 

 N.W. and Tarbert Lighthouse about S.4-E. ; a sweep was made around 

 the bay into four fathoms and out again, the haul lasting for four hours. 

 The weather was fine and the sea smooth. 



In the hauls made here a special cod-end with large meshes was used, 

 and the catches, especially of the unmarketable fishes, were therefore 

 smaller than would have been the case otherwise ; the records cannot 

 thus in this respect be compared with the foregoing. 



The catch consisted of 400 fishes, of which 354 were marketable. The 

 plaice numbered 138, and there were 69 cod and 123 flounders. In the 

 next haul, in the same locality, 210 fishes were taken, the catch com- 

 prising 43 cod, 87 plaice, 38 flounders and 29 skates and rays. Other 

 four drags were made here, and the aggregate catch for the six hauls, 

 comprising twenty-four hours and five minutes fishing, was 1932 fish, 

 1837 being marketable. 



The details of the catches are given in the adjoining Table; what is 

 stated above as to the mesh of the cod-end must be borne in mind. 



1 Cod. 



Codling. 



Coal- 

 fish. 



Haddock. 

 35 



Cat-fish. 



Brill. 



Plaice. 



Lemon 

 Dab. 



I. 

 II. 



Total 



754 



5 



1 



9 



12 



4 



581 

 6 



33 



754 



6 



9 



35 



12 



4 



587 



33 





Witch. 



Flounder. 



Common 

 Dab. 



Long 

 Rough 

 Dab. 



Thorn- 

 back. 



Sprat. 



Grey 

 Skate. 



t 

 II. 



Total 



15 



235 

 32 



57 

 17 



3 



92 

 11 



2 



5 

 23 



15 



267 



74 



3 



103 



2 



28 



Large and medium-sized haddocks were present in the catches, the 

 numbers taken being — large 86, medium 80, small 130, fourths, 152 ; 

 many of the smaller haddocks would escape through the mesh of the 

 cod-end used. 



The fishing in the Dornoch Firth on this occasion was of special 

 interest, for several reasons. Cod were taken in quite unusual numbers, 

 a shoal of spawning fish having been hit upon, and each haul of the 

 net was characterised by the large number of cod present. On hauling 

 the net, the cod-end, in which the fish were contained, could be seen 

 floating at the surface some distance away from the vessel ; this is 

 always the case with large catches of the greater round fishes. The 

 greatest number of cod caught in one haul of four hours was 282, but in 

 each drag the net contained many scores. Owing to the weight of fish 



