38 



Thirty-ninth Annual Report 



that substantial progress will be made with the scheme during the 

 current year. 



Lobster Fishery Development. 



The development of the lobster fishery, which in Scotland is 

 carried on chiefly on the West Coast and is now showing symptoms 

 of decline, is another matter which the Board have had under con- 

 sideration for some years. On the economic side there is ample scope 

 for developing this important fishery by increasing the facilities 

 for storage and improving the methods of packing for market, while 

 on the scientific side lacunae in our knowledge of the life history of 

 the lobster and the conditions which influence its reproduction and 

 development — knowledge which is necessary before any measures 

 of a regulative kind can be taken — require to be filled up. 



Proposals to this end were therefore formulated and submitted 

 to the Development Commissioners, whose approval they received, 

 and by means of a grant provided from the Development Fund, the 

 Board were enabled during the year under review to begin an 

 investigation into the lobster fishery. 



The practical side of the investigations; which will, it is hoped, 

 materially add to our knowledge of the life-history of the lobster, 

 and will enable sound measures of conservation to be taken, was 

 placed in the hands of Lieutenant-Commander J. W. M'Murchie,D.S.O., 

 who nad previously had a long experience as manager in charge of 

 the well known lobster pond at Cullipool, near Oban. The scientific 

 portion of the investigations is being undertaken by the Board's 

 regular scientific staff. 



Use of Aircraft for Locating Fish Shoals. 



In various parts of the world, but notably on the Atlantic and 

 Pacific sea-boards of the United States of America, experiments have 

 recently been made as to the utility of aircraft in detecting shoals of 

 fish. These experiments are reported to have clearly demonstrated 

 the practicability of using aircraft for this purpose, and it is under- 

 stood that American fishermen have already received material 

 assistance in this way. 



It is possible that the physical conditions obtaining off the 

 Scottish coast may not be so suitable as in American waters, but 

 the innovation contains obvious possibilities for Scottish fishermen, 

 and the Board accordingly approached the Air Ministry with a view 

 to putting the matter to a practical test during the summer of 1921 

 by combining a search for shoals with the ordinary operational 

 exercises of aircraft. 



The proposal was sympathetically received by the Air Ministry, 

 and the Board hope to be in a position to give the results of the 

 experiment in their next annual report. 



Wireless Communication for Fishing Vessels. 



The Board have kept under close observation the development 

 of wireless communication as applied to ships. The advantages of 



