32 
Part 111. — Tenth Annual Report 
These figures indicate that within the closed area flat-fish have, on the 
whole, diminished rather than increased ; but in considering this fact it 
is necessary to bear in mind, on the one hand, the results of certain 
concurrent investigations carried out on board the * Garland,' and, on the 
other hand, the greatly increased development of beam-trawling in recent 
years. It has been shown by the researches of the ' Garland ' that the 
great majority of the food fishes — cod, haddock, whiting, plaice, lemon 
soles, &c. — 'either do not spawn at all within the closed area referred to, 
or only to a slight extent in the case of some forms. The adult fish, when 
mature, leave the territorial waters and congregate at the spawning time 
beyond the three-mile limit, where the eggs are cast forth in myriads and 
are gradually floated in vast numbers towards the shallow water. It is 
among these off-shore spawning shoals that trawlers work on a large scale, 
and it is obvious that if the adult fish are captured on the breeding 
grounds in greatly increased numbers before they have spawned the 
supply of young fishes for the in-shore waters must be materially reduced. 
It may be said, as the results of four years continuous investigations, that 
none, or scarcely any, of the plaice, lemon soles, cod, haddock, or turbot to 
be found within the waters of the Firth of Forth or St Andrews Bay 
were born there. They have been floated in at an early stage of their 
existence, or have migrated thither at a later period. It has been also 
shown by the investigations made on board the ' Garland ' that, while 
immature fish of certain kinds are most abundant witbin the three-mile 
limit, the majority are to be found without that limit, up to a distance of 
ten or twelve miles from shore. 
Whatever be the cause, there can be little doubt that the abundance of 
fish in the territorial waters of this part of the coast is not increasing. 
T. WEMYSS FULTON, 
Secretary for Scientific Investigation.. 
