9 
tory, because wo catch them by line as well as by trawl, and the 
lino fishing is not prosecuted with the same fervour on each 
occasion. It is a form which spawns to some extent within the 
limits, and we should expect it to benefit thereby, but so far as our 
figures go, the gurnard docs not appear to be keeping up in numbers. 
TABLE II.— GURNARD. 
Year. 
Myth 
Bay. 
Camboia 
Bay. 
Oruridgc 
Bay. 
Alnmouth 
Bay. 
Skate 
Hoads. 
Total. 
A ver- 
ast* ■ 
. 
1894 
41 
17, 6 
120 
49, 17. 85 
81 
416 
62 
1895 
25, 40 
7, 85 
13, 35, 120 
24, 66 
30, 70 
614 
47 
1896 
46, 20 
100 
83, 143, 124 
29, 40 
46, 29 
666 
67 
1897 
23 
35, 23 
76, 196a 
27, 34 
6, 17 
436 
48 
1898 
7 a 
13c 
16, 43, 12 
19, 11 
6, 0 
107 
16 
1899 
•2b 
21, '20d 
20, 56, 39 
12, 61 
1, 47 
257 
32 
a. 4 hoars'! 
/k i ” - Left out in making up totals and averages. 
d. 5 .. ) 
e. All taken by the line. 
The fiat fish, which, as has been all along quite evident, form 
the bulk of our take with the trawl, occur in our territorial waters to 
a limited extent. Plaice and dabs are most numerous, the latter 
presenting a large number of both mature and immature forms ; 
the former being very variable in regard to the occurrence of mature, 
but usually presenting a large number of immature sizes. It seems, 
in fact, that the plaice qualitatively are not so good as they were in 
the past ; and this again agrees with the experiences of the line 
fishermen who remark the small size of the plaice, as well as of 
other forms they obtain now compared with former years. We cannot 
expect to get what have been called deep-sea plaice, in our relatively 
shallow territorial waters, but two years ago we did get a large 
number of mature plaice whereas last year and this year the sizes 
seldom reached those of maturity. Last year I presented the average 
totals for the fiat fish. I venture to repeat the tables in the form 
1 have just given for gurnards. 
The figures for plaice are brought together in Table III.; the 
total number obtained at each excursion is given, and the average 
for each year is presented in the last column. The other forms are 
tabulated in similar manner in the succeeding tables. A slight 
increase in the number of plaice has taken place during the last two 
years, and it may be said that this fish has improved in numbers 
