of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 





No. of Fry 



Duration of 



No. of Plaice 



A -VT 



Average .No. 



Year. 



Liberated. 



Fishing. 



taken. 



per Hour. 







Hrs. 



Mins. 







i one 



a i aa Ann 

 4,1UU,UUU 



10 



o 



1,1 14 



1114: 



1897 



21,170,000 



2 



30 



60 



24-0 



1898 



19,200,000 



12 



30 



1,195 



95-6 



1899 



16,470,000 



17 



0 



488 



28-7 



1900 



30,590,000 



16 



0 



850 



53-1 



1901 



51,350,000 



16 



0 



2,784 



174-0 



1903 



None. 



33 



0 



1,231 



37-3 



1904 



None. 



31 



45 



253 



8-0 



1905 



None. 



29 



45 



3,333 



1120 



1906 



None. 



30 



25 



505 



16-6 



1907 



None. 



8 



50 



294 



33-3 



1908 



None. 



31 



45 



961 



30-3 



The period of thirteen years over which those experiments have 

 extended is a considerable one, and Dr. Fulton thinks it is reason- 

 able to believe that the greatly increased average abundance of the 

 young plaice in the first six years was mainly due to the liberation 

 of the 142,880,000 fry in those years ; and that, on the other hand, 

 the decrease in the abundance in the last six years was mainly 

 owing to the fact that no plaice fry were added to the loch in these 

 years. These conclusions are supported by a mathematical 

 investigation of the fluctuations in the averages by Miss Lee, 

 of the Marine Biological Laboratory, Lowestoft, to whom the 

 figures were submitted, but a further series of observations would 

 be very valuable, especially to determine more precisely the 

 natural fluctuations. 



Investigations on the Herring Fishery of Loch Fyne. 



Since the latter part of 1904, as mentioned in previous Eeports 

 of the Board, investigations have been pursued with regard to the 

 herring fishery in Loch Fyne, as far as the means at disposal have 

 admitted. The enquiry was commenced owing to the failure of 

 this important fishery for a series of years, as the following figures, 

 showing the quantity of herrings (in crans), make evident : — 



Year. 



Herrings 



Year. 



Herrings 



Caught. 



Caught. 



1895, - 



- 17,853 



1901, - 



- 29,117 



1896, - 



- 18,406 



1902, - 



- 26,339 



1897, - 



- 56,820 



1903, - 



- 21,198 



1898, - 



- 40,801 



1904, - 



- 7,827 



1899, - 



- 32,113 



1905, - 



- 4,672 



1900, - 



- 24,743 



1906, - 



1907, - 



- 5,258 



- 3,914 



