8 
Part III. — Tenth Annual Report 
sea have been made daily at ten fixed stations, — five on the 
East Coast and five on the West Coast, — and also on board the 
' Garland,' the < Vigilant / and H.M.S. ' Jackal.' 
The Hatching and Bearing of Food Fishes. 
As stated in last year's Report the Board have been impressed 
with the need of increasing the supplies of the food-fishes and 
shell- fish by means of artificial propagation and culture. 
During the last six years a gradual falling off in the yield and 
value of the 6hore fisheries has occurred, and within the last few 
years the valuable flat-fishes have diminished in abundance to a 
very considerable extent, and very notably when the increase in 
the means of capture is taken into account. The quantities of 
turbot, brill, and plaice landed are becoming less yearly, although 
the number and tonnage of beam-trawl vessels have greatly 
increased within the same period. On the other hand, there has 
been a steady decline in the number of fishermen arid fishing 
boats, and in the capital embarked in fishing boats and gear. 
There were 5573 fewer fishermen and boys last year than in 
1885, and 2626 fewer boats ; and the capital embarked in fishing 
boats and gear (exclusive of trawlers) has diminished from 
£1,485,929 in 1889 to £1,415,530 in 1891,-— a fall of over 
£70,000 in three years. That the valuable flat-fishes are also 
diminishing in numbers is shown by the figures, indicating the 
number of hundred-weights of those fish caught by beam-trawlers 
per ton of the vessels engaged, and which are given later. The 
decrease has been greatest among turbot, but it has taken place 
with all kinds of flat-fish. 
The trawling experiments of the 'Garland,' referred to later, 
show that little or no increase has occurred in the abundance of 
flat-fish within the territoral waters from which the practice of 
beam-trawling has been prohibited ; and the special statistics of 
the quantities of fish taken by line fishermen from the inshore 
grounds also show that a falling off has occurred. 
Such diminution in the supply of the food-fishes relative to the 
means of capturing them is not peculiar to the Scotch coast. 
Complaints have for some years been made of depletion of the 
fishing grounds off the English coast, and off the coasts of maritime 
States in Europe and America — wherever, indeed, sea-fishing has 
been industriously prosecuted on a large scale for a long period. 
Hence, in many of these countries, besides the enforcement of 
restrictive regulations, sea-fish hatcheries have been erected with 
the view of increasing the supply by artificial culture. Such 
establishments exist in the United States, Norway, Newfoundland, 
and Canada. In the country first named, the great fishery for 
shad, which had sunk to a very low point, has been revived by 
such means, so that it yields larger returns than ever before. So, 
also, in Norway, where for a number of years a sea-fish hatchery 
has been in successful operation at Flodevig, near Arendal, and 
another is now in process of being established in Christiania Fjord, 
larger and more fully equipped than its predecessor. During the 
present hatching season, 207,000,000 young cod were hatched at the 
