of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



9 



The Influence of Beam-Trawling. 



The Trawling Experiments of the ' Garland.' 



The results of the experiments and observations of the 'Garland' 

 into the relative abundance of the food fishes in the territorial 

 waters where beam -trawling is prohibited, and on the influence of 

 this prohibition on the fish supply, are given in a special report hi 

 Section A. 



In the course of the year the various trawling stations in the 

 Firth of Forth, St Andrews Bay, Montrose Bay, Aberdeen Bay, 

 and the Moray Firth were examined, the stations being tested on 

 158 occasions, as compared with 156 in the previous year. Owing 

 to the closure of the whole of the Moray Firth to trawling in 

 November last (vide Part I. of this Report, p. xlix.), a number of 

 additional stations for scientific investigations were selected in 

 that important fishing area. Six of these are on, or in the 

 neighbourhood of, Smith Bank, the well-known spawning-ground 

 for plaice, cod, haddock, &c. For the reason previously adverted to 

 —the small size of the vessel — the Board did not deem it advisable 

 to incur the risk of sending the ' Garland ' to the Moray Firth 

 during the winter months or in early spring, and it was therefore 

 impossible to examine Smith Bank and other offshore grounds at 

 the most important time, namely, the spawning period. 



As the closure of the Moray Firth involves, for the first time in 

 the history of fishery regulation, the protection of spawning-grounds 

 for white-fish in offshore waters, it is of great importance that the 

 Board should be placed in a position to ascertain the results of 

 this protective interference, and the extent to which such measures 

 are likely to be beneficial to the fish supply. 



In the area of the Firth of Forth and St Andrews Bay, where 

 the trawling investigations were conducted with most regularity, 

 the stations were examined on 139 occasions. In the Firth of 

 Forth, where 99 hauls were made, it was found that a slight 

 decrease had occurred in the general abundance of fish in the 

 protected waters, as compared with the previous year. The falling 

 off was more marked in flat-fish than in round-fish, the greatest 

 decrease being in plaice, which fell from an average of 43 5 per haul 

 of the net in 1891 to an average of 36 '4 in 1892. There was a 

 decrease in cod and whitings, and an increase in haddocks and 

 gurnard. 



In the St Andrews Bay area the result of the examination of the 

 various stations also showed that a decrease had taken place in the 

 general abundance of the food fishes in the closed waters. Flat-fish 

 fell from an average of 109'4 per haul of the net in 1891 to 84*0 in 

 1892. The decrease in common dabs was noteworthy. The catch 

 of cod and whitings was greater than in the previous year. 



At the stations in the open waters of the Firth of Forth and St 

 Andrews Bay there was also a great falling off in the numbers of 

 flat-fish and a slight increase in the numbers of round-fish captured. 



The trawling experiments in St Andrews Bay and the Firth of 

 Forth have now been carried on for seven years — ever since beam- 



