of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



35 



large one for thirty-six and a half hours' work. But in the last drag the 

 net was found to contain a very large number of dog-fishes, showing 

 that the ground had been invaded by these predaceous forms, and in 

 such a case it is usual for the other fishes to move away. 



The occurrence of dog-fishes in this region, where they have not 

 uncommonly been taken, and the frequent presence of various other 

 species characteristic of deeper water, as ling, hake, Lumpenus, the 

 Norway pout, (fee, is probably explained by the extension along the 

 southern coast of the Moray Firth of a channel or gut of deeper 

 water, an offshoot from the North Sea, along which the fishes referred 

 to make their way. 



The next haul of the trawl was made in the Dornoch Firth, off 

 Dunrobin, on the night of 6th October, in from eight to thirteen 

 fathoms. As a result of the four-and-a-half hours' drag only 405 

 marketable fishes were secured, including thirty-six haddocks, thirty 

 gurnards, 295 plaice, thirty-four common dabs, and six thornbacks. 



The second haul on this ground was more productive ; it was made 

 in from five to twelve fathoms, and lasted for four hours and a quarter. 

 The aggregate number of fishes taken was 2282, of which 1544 were 

 marketable and 738 unmarketable. Haddocks were again scantily 

 represented, totalling thirty-four, of which eight were too small to be 

 marketable, the other twenty-six being all large. This is not un- 

 commonly the case in the Dornoch Firth, where some of the largest 

 haddocks I have seen were taken. These old and large fish, occasion- 

 ally very thin and infested with ectoparasites, and rarely fat, are 

 probably sluggish and less able to escape their foes than when 

 smaller, and make their way into the shallow bays, where they are 

 much more secure from the attacks of the larger predaceous forms. 

 The plaice taken numbered 1519, all but ninety-seven of market- 

 able size. The large class was represented by fifteen individuals, the 

 medium by 202, the small by 480, and the very small by 725. 

 Among the other flat-fishes were four brill, five lemon soles, and 618 

 common dabs, of which twenty were marketable. There were also 

 eighty-nine gurnards, seven thornbacks and six anglers, and twenty- 

 five squids. 



The next drag was also productive, yielding 1957 fishes, 1605 being 

 marketable. The catch included fourteen cod, ninety codling, 170 

 marketable haddocks — of which 115 were large, twenty medium, and 

 thirty-five small, — eleven whitings, and sixty-six gurnards. Among the 

 1335 plaice taken, 1218 were marketable, the large class comprising 

 fifty-three, the mediums 158, the small class 358, and the very small 

 649. There were also three brill, nineteen lemon soles, and 228 

 common dabs. 



Other six hauls were made in the Dornoch Firth, the total catch 

 varying from 3814 to 506 ; in the latter instance, however, the net 

 caught on the bottom and got torn after being down forty-five minutes. 

 The largest catch included eighteen baskets of haddocks, mostly large, 

 nine of plaice, one-and-a-quarter of codlings, and one of gurnards, as 

 well as eight cod, two brill, five lemon soles, eighty common dabs, and 

 six thornbacks. 



The aggregate number of fishes obtained in the eight hauls which 

 were completely enumerated, and which comprised thirty-one-and-a- 

 half hours' actual fishing, was 18,084, of which 12,284 were marketable 

 and 5800 unmarketable, the average numbers per hour's fishing 

 being respectively 574*1, 390, and 184*1. It was considerably less, 

 therefore, than at Burghead Bay. The particulars are as follows, I. 

 representing the marketable and II. the unmarketable fishes: — 



