81 
2. — Character of the Stations. 
As was pointed out last year in the paper on the Crah and 
"jobster fisheries of Northumberland, the hard ground is much more 
>xt( nsive in the northern part of the district, and my colleague, 
ifrofessor Lebour, kindly indicated, as far as it was possible, the 
leological nature of the undersea extensions of the land formations, 
[t was shown likewise that this was the most obvious reason for a 
•einarkable disproportion in the population of crabs in the two 
divisions of the Committee's district. Two of the trawling stations 
ire situated in the northern division, viz.: Goswick Bay and Skate 
Roads. Outside these stations, which lie one to the north and the 
other to the south of Holy Island, are considerable areas of rocky or 
bard ground. Whether this be the reason or not, it is the fact that 
they oiler a marked contrast to the rest of the trawling stations in 
the proportion of the fishes. (Table X. and Chart 1.) The 
dominant species of Hat fish are plaice and dabs, and it is evident 
that both the first haul and the complete experiment agree in 
demonstrating a large proportion of plaice (about 80 %), and a 
small proportion of dabs I about 10 ",,). The mean proportion for 
the district (including one of the northern stations— Skate Roads) 
for plaice is about 50 %, and for dabs about 85 %. 
A gradual but slight decrease from Alnmouth Bay (which lies 
immediately on the southern boundary of the extensive northern 
hard ground) to Cambois Bay is indicated, with a rise again at Blyth 
Bay, the most southerly of all the stations. It is possible to show 
that the latter bay is more shut in from the seaward side by hard 
ground than Cambois Bay and Druridgc Bay. 
Dabs on the other hand gradually increase in proportion from 
north to south, decreasing again in Blyth Bay. 
Some such differences may be traced also with regard to the 
prime fish. Turbot tend to decline in proportion from north to 
south, and soles even more strikingly present an increasing pro- 
portion from north to south, reaching a maximum in Cambois Bay. 
The ground in the northern part of the district which favours the 
turbot is also clearly the ground which suits its near and rare ally 
in inshore waters, the brill. 
These differences between the stations are again clearly 
demonstrated in Tables V., VI., and VII., and in the diagram's 
m Chart 2. Skate Roads, the northern station represented, 
stands alone amongst those depicted in the small proportion 
