I 



TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT. 



TO THE EIGHT HONOURABLE 



LORD BALFOUR of BURLEIGH, 



His Majesty's Secretary for Scotland. 



Office of The Fishery Board 

 FOR Scotland, 

 Edinburgh, ^rd June, 1903. 



My Loud, 



In continuation of our Twenty-first Annual Eeport, we 

 have the honour to submit — 



PART III.— SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS. 



GENEEAL STATEMENT. 



This part of the Twenty-first Annual Eeport contains an account 

 of the scientific investigations conducted by the Board in 1902 in 

 connection with the sea fisheries of Scotland, so far as the same 

 have been completed. In previous Eeports it was explained that 

 owing to the small size and unseaworthy qualities of the Garland 

 it was scarcely possible to carry on the investigations in the off- 

 shore waters, on the fishing grounds from which the bulk of the 

 fish supply is drawn ; and also that for the same reasons the 

 experimeni.s and observations in the Moray Firth and other areas 

 had been hampered and curtailed. The Garland was at length 

 disposed of in the course of last year. 



His Majesty's Government have now agreed to take part, 

 together with the other nations of northern Europe, in a systematic 

 investigation of the North Sea and adjacent waters, with a view to 

 the elucidation of various problems connected with the Fisheries. 

 The British share in this International Investigation has been 

 divided into two parts, and the Board, at the request of His 

 Majesty's Government, has undertaken the control of the northern 

 half. The International Programme includes hydrographical 



