of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 
183 
The Vitality of the Fish. 
The question whether the immature fish brought up in the trawl-net 
retain sufficient vitality to enable them to live if returned to the sea 
is one of very great importance. Professor M'Xntosh, in his observations 
in 1884, paid special attention to this. He states generally that the 
proportion of* the living to the dead varies according to the nature of 
the ground, the length of time the trawl has been down, and the condition 
of the weather and the sea. On clean sandy or hard bottoms nearly all 
were living ; on muddy bottoms nearly all were dead. Most of his 
remarks, however, refer to the fish generally, adult and immature ; 
and they may be briefly epitomised. The trawl was generally kept 
down for between five and six hours, occasionally above seven hours, 
frequently two or three hours. All the skates and rays were alive ; 
cod were almost always alive, if large, some small codling were 
dead ; of haddocks, about a third of the large ones were alive, the 
smaller appear to have been mostly dead ; most of the whitings — in 
some cases all — were dead ; most of the ling were alive ; most of the 
common dabs and long rough dabs were dead ; turbot were as a rule 
' active;' the brill were all alive; plaice were usually all alive ; as were 
also the soles and lemon dabs. In cases where the trawl was down 
beween two and three hoars on clean ground the fish were all alive. 
On board the ' Garland ' the net is very rarely kept down more 
than two hours and a half, and most of the fish are alive, the whitings 
succumbing first. In order to test the effect on the vitality of the fish 
of keeping the net down longer, a haul was made for four hours in 
from 8 to 20 fathoms. The condition of the fish as to vitality is shown 
in the following Table : — 
Living. 
Dead. 
Kind of Fish. 
Number. 
Size in Inches. 
Number. 
Size in Inches. 
Plaice, 
114 
12 -13 -i 
4 
>> ... 
41 
104-11 
... 
6 
7 
9 
8 
) 5 * ' * 
1 
6 
Common Dabs, 
6 
9-11 
19 
1 
32 
7- 8 
7 
6 
Lemon Soles, . 
25 
10 
42 
11-14 
Long Rough Dabs, 
7 
9 
1 
7 
11 
8 -10 
11 
6|- 7 
Flounders, 
1 
"i 
1 
11 
Cod, 
1 
39 
, , ■ ~ • • 
3 
23 
... 
1 
26 
1 
17 
11-16 
9 
Haddocks, 
3 
11-12 
Whitings, 
4 
14-16 
, , • • • 
,, 
14 
6 
t<HH 
9-10" 
Gurnard, 
4 
13-15 
•23 
10-11 
vit 1 i* ' * ' 
31 
8 
>> • • • 
10 
7 
Herring, 
Sprat, 
1 
1 
4 
Angler, . 
2 
28-3 
Cat-fish, . 
2 
34-39 
1 
16* 
