SEA-FISHERIES LABORATORY. 237 
Sea have been known to migrate into Luce Bay, though 
it is an opinion often expressed by experienced fisher- 
men that they do so; (2) the migrations out from the 
Bay appear to be chiefly those of fish which go to the 
Bahama Bank area, probably to spawn there. The 
conclusions deducible at this stage are: (1) Luce Bay 
is inhabited by a plaice population of nearly all ages, 
and since it is closed against trawling im every form, the 
larger fish are present in greater proportion than in the 
more intensely fished plaice grounds in the Irish Sea; 
99 
(2) it is a natural “ nursery from which plaice 
approaching sexual maturity emigrate in order to 
spawn, and they do spawn on the fishing grounds off 
Bahama Bank and in the Firth of Clyde; (3) Luce Bay 
is populated by plaice which have, in their youngest 
phases of hfe, inhabited the Solway Firth, or from 
larvee spawned on the grounds between Isle of Man and 
Cumberland. 
2. Morecambe Bay. Chart I, p. 258. 
This series includes a group of experiments made 
during the months February to May in the years 
1905-6-8. The numbers of the separate experiments are 
given in the table on p. 286 and I have already discussed 
the propriety of the grouping. The approximate 
positions of recapture are indicated on the chart, and the 
latter shows the main migrations so clearly that only a 
few explanatory remarks are necessary. Some records 
of marked fishes returned are omitted in this (and the 
other) charts because the information sent ‘with the fishes 
was incomplete or doubtful. We see that the recaptures 
fall into three main groups: (1) plaice caught in the 
in-shore waters of Morecambe Bay, and along the coast 
further South as far as Holyhead Harbour; (2) plaice 
