of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



55 



Investigations on the Herring. 



The investigations on the herring fishery in Loch Fyne, referred to 

 in previous Eeport3, were carried on during the year as far as cir- 

 cumstances allowed, observations being made on the temperature of 

 the water and on the abundance of " plankton/' the minute floating 

 life upon which the herring chiefly feeds. 



The subjoined table gives the total quantity of herrings obtained 

 in Loch Fyne in each year since 1900 : — 



1900 - 



Herrings Caught. 





Herringa Caught 



- 86,600 cwts. 



1911 - 



- 16,352 cwts. 



1901 - 



- 101,909 „ 



1912 - 



- 7,672 „ 



1902 - 



- 92,186 „ 



1913 - 



- 10,696 „ 



1903 - 



- 74,193 „ 



1914 - 



- 3,216 „ 



1904 - 



- 27,394 ., 



1915 - 



- 13,399 „ 



1905 - 



- 16,352 „ 



1916 - 



- 2,576 „ 



1906 - 



- 18,403 „ 



1917 - 



899 „ 



1907 - 



- 13,699 „ 



1918 - 



- 5,763 „ 



1908 - 



- 14,245 ,. 



1919 - 



- 41,973 „ 



1909 - 



- 12,894 „ 



1920 - 



- 93,982 „ 



1910 - 



- 36,417 » 







The catch in each of the months of 1920 was as follows 



January - 



February 



March - 



April 



May 



June 



Cwts. 

 10,213 



658 

 1,245 



3,698 



July 



August - 

 September 

 October - 

 November 

 December 



Cwts. 

 8,155 

 1,984 

 1,069 

 1,722 

 19,590 

 45.648 



The total quantity caught in 1920, more than half of which was 

 taken in the two concluding months of the year, shows a striking 

 increase over the catches of recent years, and indicates a reversion to 

 the successful fishing which obtained prior to 1904. The remark- 

 able fluctuations in the distribution of the herrings in the Loch Fyne 

 area is a phenomenon deserving of close study, and the Board propose 

 to continue their investigations with the view of elucidating the 

 reasons therefor. 



The special observations made by the S.S."Goldseeker" in Shetland 

 waters in August and September serve to throw some light on the 

 vexed question of the fluctuations in the herring fishing in the North 

 Sea. Conditions in the area investigated were found to be far from 

 normal, and the summer fishing was already coming to a premature 

 close after a most disappointing season. An indication of the pre- 

 vailing hydrographical conditions had previously been obtained from 

 investigations carried out in the Moray Firth in July, when it was 

 noted that large numbers of salps, chiefly Salpa fusiformis, had made 

 their appearance, especially on the Smith Bank area. The normal 

 habitat of these organisms, which are not unlike jelly-fish in appear- 

 ance, is the Atlantic, and they have not been seen in the North Sea 

 since the year 1905, when apparently under somewhat similar hydro- 



