Fishery Board for Scotland. 
xi 
bottom. The results were embodied in a Report which was 
prepared by Dr Fulton, under directions of the Board, and was 
described (we believe with perfect accuracy) by the Vice President 
at the Conference ' as one of the most important, if not the most 
' important document that had up to the present, been contributed 
' to the Fishery Literature of this country.' 
The inquiries into the food and propagation of the eJible funes Food and pro- 
have been also prosecuted on an extensive scale. The food-material p ^ c V 10 J\ ot 
c i c\r\ r\r\e\ • i • c ii L edible fishes 
or nearly ^0,000 specimens caught at various parts or the coast investigated, 
and at all seasons of the year has been examined, and this 
research has yielded valuable results both in regard to the pro- 
tection and regulation of the fisheries and the increase of the fish 
supply by artificial means. The fecundity of nearly all the food- 
fishes has been determined, the nature of pelagic and demersal 
ova has been carefully studied, and the distribution of the former 
in the waters over the breeding grounds and along the coasts 
investigated. The development from the egg onwards, and the 
characteristics of the young of the majority of the edible fishes 
have been described— including the herring, haddock, whiting, cod, 
ling, turbot, plaice, lemon sole, flounder, &c„ and also of the 
mjst valuable forms of bait, the mussel and the clam. The Protection of 
spawning of the herring and of the other food-fishes has received §^ ms 
special attention. Since 1888 upwards of 30,000 white fish — such 
as cod, turbot, plaice, &c. — have been individually examined. By 
this means the time and duration of the breeding season has been 
determined, and the important fact has been proved that on the 
East Coast of Scotland, where the investigation was mainly carried 
on, the spawning grounds of the valuable food-fishes (cod, haddock, 
plaice, turbot, &c.) generally lie outside the territorial limit, — con- 
trary to the belief formerly held, — and that only forms of com- 
paratively little value, such as the flounder, dabs, and gurnards, 
&c, spawn within the three-mile limit. The importance of these 
facts cannot be over-estimated. They bear directly both on the 
question of establishing a close-time and the measures proper to be 
taken for the regulation of fishing on the,.breeding grounds. The 
trawlers, driven outside the inshore waters, generally take to the 
breeding grounds, for there the hauls are most abundant. The 
significance of this fact, in connection with the falling off in the in- 
shore fisheries, is becoming too grave to be longer overlooked. The 
growth of population has been followed by an increase in the 
demand for fresh fish, the extension of the means of distribution 
has ministered to this demand, and if the floor of the ocean is to be 
swept without public regulation, the ordinary fishing grounds will 
prove inadequate to maintain' the supply. The destruction of 
spawning fish is proving a serious evil. In Germany, where this 
matter has been carefully examined, it is now held to be more 
important to protect the spawning banks, than to prevent the 
destruction of immature fish. Some of our fisheries are, in fact, in 
danger of being exhausted unless judicious regulations are rigidly 
enforced. 
During the last three years experiments have been carried on to ^^°2 sof 
determine the migratory movements of fish, and nearly 3000 have Se^ 611 s 0 
