13 
It may probably occur to some that the reason of this increase 
of fishes in the in-sliore waters is due to the strike last year at 
Grimsby, and the consequent lying idle of a large number of trawl 
steamers for a portion of the year. But when we recollect, as has 
already been stated, that the salmon and trout fisheries and the 
herring fisheries have been unusually productive this summer, that 
there have also been much larger numbers of mackerel on the coast, 
that unusual fish have also visited the coast, we conclude that the 
increase is due to the season. If a reason has to be sought for the 
increased population of the North Sea this season, and its rather 
unusual nature, it may be suggested that it is more than likely one 
of temperature. The North Sea, in a wide sense, is only a large 
bay in the North Atlantic. A favourable change in the temperature 
of the larger ocean would tend to tempt the fish from the North 
Sea, and an unfavourable change would not merely repel them, but 
would add many which normally would remain in the North 
Atlantic. Thus the present year must be looked upon as excep- 
tional, and we must bear in mind that in all probability other or 
opposite conditions would cause a diminution. It shows how 
important the hydrographical researches are likely to be which are 
to be conducted simultaneously by the North Sea Powers during 
the next five years. 
The different bays have naturally participated in the general 
increase. Cambois Bay, which was experimented in at intervals 
of 4 days and 21 days, showed a slight progressive increase in 
the total number of fishes on each occasion, with inconsiderable 
fluctuations in the proportion of the fishes, as well as the general 
improvement in numbers over former years. 
The only haul made at Blytli Bay was a record one* the total 
reaching 415 fishes. This catch we obtained in 54 hours in a 
moderately rough sea. The improvement affected soles, plaice, and 
dabs, and the catch was remarkable, moreover, in that 5 Sapphirine 
Gurnards were captured there for the first time, and only one 
common gurnard. 
At Druridge Bay, where we made two experiments, the results 
were even more striking. The average catch, as is shown 
graphically in chart V., was greatly in advance of anything we 
have had to record during the whole of the years this bay has 
been visited. The great improvement of the second day’s catch over 
that of the first offers a striking confirmation of the fact our 
