1888 - 89 .] 
Chairman’s Opening Address. 
11 
present Fishery Board, which succeeded the old Board of Com- 
missioners for the British White Herring Fisheries in 1882 ; and 
the scientific work has been undergoing gradual expansion year by 
year since the new Board was formed, largely owing to the energy 
of Professor Ewart and Sir James Maitland. 
The work which has - been accomplished may be conveniently 
referred to under three heads — (1) General Fishery Questions, (2) 
Biological Observations, and (3) Physical Observations. 
Among general questions, which do not so much concern us here, 
may be mentioned the investigations of the “ Garland ” into the 
influence of various modes of fishing, especially in territorial waters, 
the preservation of fish, specially studied by Professor Ewart, and 
various other matters which are set forth in the last two Reports of 
the Fishery Board. At the present time experiments are being carried 
on regarding the artificial cultivation of mussels on the French or 
bouchot system, and investigations are in progress on the relative 
efficiency of different baits, and on the possibility of devising arti- 
ficial substitutes. 
The biological investigations have naturally ranged over a wide 
variety of subjects, and these can only be referred to summarily. 
One of the earliest questions to engage the attention of the new 
Board was the natural history of the herring, and several papers 
have been published in the various Reports on the structure, 
spawning, development, food, and migrations of this familiar fish, 
which still forms the greatest source of wealth in connection with 
the fisheries of Scotland. These inquiries were extended later to 
other groups of edible fishes ; and the most complete account yet 
given of the food of most of them, such as the cod, haddock, 
whiting, &c., will be found in the Reports of the Scottish Board ; 
and an inquiry into the structure of the digestive system and the 
cognate processes of digestion in fishes, was also made the subject of 
a special investigation by Professor Stirling of Owens College. 
The vertebrate and invertebrate fauna of several districts, especi- 
ally in the Clyde and in the Firth of Forth, have been very com- 
pletely worked up, a considerable number of species, either new to 
science or new to Britain, have been recorded; and the occurrence 
of rare fishes has been described from time to time. Inquiries have 
also been carried on into pathological questions connected with fish 
