of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 
353 
In order to ascertain any special circumstances connected with the 
regular anchovy fisheries on the Continent, I communicated with several 
of the fishery authorities abroad, and shall give here a summary of part of 
the information obtained — Professor Marion, the director of the Station 
Zoologique D'Endoume, Marseille, has recently made a special study of 
the anchovy in the Gulf of Marseilles. The anchovies approach the 
coast in spring, and enter bays and estuaries ; sometimes the great shoals 
are met by the fishermen 20 miles off. The fishermen of Martigues 
state that the anchovy comes in sometimes in March or April and some- 
times in summer, and that they pass out again in October, or November, or 
December, according to the degree of cold and the prevalence of rains or 
gales. Last year young anchovies were very abundant on the Mediter- 
ranean coast, but it does not appear whether they were specially abundant 
as compared with other years. 
Senor Eafael Gutierren Vela, of the Spanish fisheries department, 
informs me that the anchovy is obtained on both the Atlantic and 
Mediterranean coasts ; and that in the Mediterranean, especially in the 
waters of Malaga and Ceuta, it is obtained not only in great abundance, 
but frequently in the young and undeveloped stage. In this stage they 
are called Voquerones, and are highly esteemed for their delicacy and 
flavour ; and although these young individuals are taken in great 
quantities, no diminution has as yet been observed in the anchovy 
fishery. On the Atian.ic coast they do not often meet with the immature 
anchovy. Senor Vela's opinion, in regard to the appearance of anchovies in 
unusual localities, is that 1 their deviation from the normal zone of the great 
' shoals' is due to physical changes in the sea. He also states that some 
fishermen hold the opinion that whales are very fond of the anchovy (and 
the number of whales has in recent years increased on the Cantabrian 
coast), and it seems that when whales appear the shoals of anchovies are 
driven out of their usual course, or are broken up. 
The important anchovy fishery in Dutch waters has been referred to. 
I am informed by Captain Drechsel that anchovies are seldom caught in 
Danish waters, and never in any quantity • but they have been caught in 
different places. Professor Giglioli knows of no fact relating to the 
Mediterranean anchovy which would explain their occurrence in excep- 
tional abundance last winter on the coasts of Great Britain. He adds : — 
' But surely the existence of Fngraulis encrasieliolus in the North Sea 
1 is not a novelty. The unusual fact is their greater number, is it not ? ' 
It has been suggested that there might be a chance of starting an 
anchovy fishery in Scotland by the use of special nets, but a little con- 
sideration will show that the presence of the anchovy in Scottish waters 
is probably a passing phenomenon, and likely to remain only a matter of 
zoological interest. Mr Cunningham made efforts to start an anchovy 
industry in England ; but when specimens of the English anchovy were 
submitted to an eminent firm of anchovy-merchants, ( they reported that 
' such fish would be perfectly useless to them for any of their manu- 
' factures.' In Norway and Denmark sprats are prepared as anchovies, 
and are sold in this country as such. 
2. Experiments on the Migratory Movements of Sea Fish. 
On board the 'Garland' last year, from March to November, numbered 
brass labels were attached to about a thousand fishes, captured in the 
trawl, and the fish were then returned to the sea. The experiments were 
chiefly conducted in the Firth of Forth and St Andrews Bay. The 
