234 
Part III. — Tenth Annual Report 
In regard to halibut, I may say that the records do not show very 
definitely the spawning period ; partly, no doubt, because the fish are 
in almost all cases sent to market unopened. The spawning time of this 
fish is not yet well enough investigated to enable me to define its limits ; 
conclusions based upon a few ripe fish in one month may be misleading, 
and many of the June records speak of ' developing roe.' I may give 
briefly one or two general observations derived from the study of these 
records — (1) shoals which spawn inshore are usually earlier than shoals 
of the same species which spawn far from shore {e.g. cod, haddock, 
whiting) ; (2) different shoals may spawn in succession on the same 
ground — one week may furnish fish almost all mature or spent, and the 
next week, or the next again, fish of the same species just approach- 
ing maturity or mature ; (3) as a general rule most species spawn 
earlier towards the south and on the west coast, e.g., ling and cod in 
the Atlantic, west of Barra, are about a month earlier than in the 
North Sea. Plaice, on the other hand, seem to spawn earlier on the 
north coast than farther south ; (4) mature haddock, whiting, and cod 
may be caught within a few miles of certain exposed parts of the east 
coast, but in some of the west coast lochs (e.g., Loch Broom), while such 
fish may be obtained approaching maturity, none are caught quite ripe — ■ 
they move seawards before spawning and return in a spent condition. 
TABLE III. — Showing the Numbers examined on board the ' Garland,' 
and the Percentage of Ripe Specimens in Various Months. 
Fish. 
January. 
February. 
March. 
April. 
May. 
June. 
July 
August. 
September. 
October. 
November. 
December. 
Cod, . . 
158 
O'O 
418 
0-3 
192 
O'O 
86 
1-7 
99 
O'O 
86 
O'O 
Haddock, . 
305 
O'O 
167 
O'O 
172 
6-0 
119 
1-1 
245 
0'4 
138 
O'O 
Whiting, . 
98 
0 0 
87 
o-o 
141 
99 
112 
30'3 
233 
O'O 
65 
4-6 
196 
27'5 
128 
o-o 
Gurnard, . 
10* 
40.0 
12 
o-o 
6 
o-o 
52 
3-8 
207 
14-5 
337 
10-9 
305 
7-5 
192 
O'O 
Plaice, 
137 
57-4\ 
252 
20'2f 
278 
O'O 
184 
O'O 
267 
0-0 
95 
O'O 
Lemon Sole, 
46 
O'O 
83 
o-o 
48 
0-2 
110 
9-OX 
120 
7'5 
146 
20-5X 
85 
O'O 
97 
4-n 
109 
o-o 
Common Dab, . 
120 
O'O 
143 
1-4 
231 
4:7 
150 
12-0 
283 
20-5 
190 
13'1 
431 
2-3 
283 
o-o 
Flounder, 
12 
0-0 
15 
26 '6 
146 
39-0 
63 
49-2 
68 
47'0 
7 
12-0 
Witch Sole, . 
12 
O'O 
20 
O'O 
48 
O'O 
20 
O'O 
66 
6-0 
36 
16 "7 
22 
45-4 
23 
8-7 
26 
o-o 
Long Rough Dab 
144 
3-9 
217 
3-2 
145 
W'O 
179 
7'9 
218 
1-3 
72 
0-0 
76 
o-o 
Turbot, . 
11 
l'O 
13 
15'4 
3 
o-o 
8 
o-o. 
Brill, . 
14-0 
o 
0-0 
2 
50-0 
* At Smith Bank, Moray Frith, January 21-24, 1889, 'four females, all partly spent.' 
f Ripe only at Moray Frith. 
X Nearly all at Orkney or Moray Frith. 
