7 
TRAWLING EXPERLMENTS. 
It was not orij^'inally contemplated that the ‘‘Evadne” 
would be capable of carrying on experiments with such 
heavy apparatus as that involved in trawling. But after 
trying several times with the smaller dredging nets it was 
felt that she might be able to do the trawling experiments as 
well. The experiments were postponed, therefore, until a 
capstan, which had been ordered as part of the equipment of 
the boat, had been installed. This was done about the end 
of August, and on September 2nd, the gear, which had before 
bt'en employed on board tlie steamers hired by the Com- 
mittee, was tried in Blyth Bay. Tlie results are given in the 
accompanying tables. It was found that the “ Evadne ” was 
quite equal to the work, l)ut as the net appeared to l>e heavy, 
a sJiialler trawl was obtained. Several trials were made with 
the latter, but in each case the results, so far as the net was 
concerned, were (juite disappointing. 
The old gear was therefore revelled to, and in spite of the 
fact that usually the experiments were done with only four 
persons on board, viz., Fishery Otticer Taylor, the Labora- 
tory Attendant, the “ Evadne's ” Engineer, and myself, it 
was found possible to carry on the work with practically the 
same expedition as on the larger boats. The accompanying 
figures illustrate this. They show that the ‘‘Evadne” is 
veiT suitable for doing the work, and that the net furnishes 
results which are perfectly trustworthj- and which can be 
compaied with those of previous experiments. Purposely to 
determine these points I gave hours to Alnmouth Bay and 
Bruridge Bays at an inteiwal of a week. If the tables be 
compared it will be seen that the catch in each bay on each 
occasion was almost exactly the same, not only with regard to 
numbers, but species, and size. I do not intend at present to 
correlate the figures obtained this year with those obtained 
befoi-e, but I wish to draw attention to the contrast between 
the two bays with refei'ence to the size of the fish. At 
Alnmouth Bay a large number of small plaice was present on 
each occasion, whereas in Bruridge Bay the large plaice were 
