INVESTIGATIONS IN ST ANDREWS BAY, 1884;
107
of the trawl.
Whatever the cause may‘have been the facts are
.
interesting.
The two hauls by a shing—boat with a 30-foot beam were
in daylight in June, and produced 215 saleable shes,
':i_'
chiey plaice, dabs, ounders, and thornbacks (36), the large
_
number of the latter probably being due to the close approach
made to the shore (sand).
The smaller and mostly unsaleable
ÏË "
shes (182) were chiefly plaice, dabs, and gurnards.
Fourteen hauls, chiey in daylight, by the “ Medusa” with
a small meshed trawl of 10-ft. beam gave
in July and August
51Æsaleable.shes, the majority being plaice and dabs. Only
two haddocks and ve gurnards represented the round shes,
which were too active to be captured by a small trawl. Con—
siderable variety, however,
shown, for turbot, brill, thorn—
hacks, long-rough dabs, lemon-dabs, and ounders were represented.
The unsaleable food-shes were 883—a comparatively
limited number when the small meshes of the naturalist’s trawl
are considered, though quite out of proportion when contrasted
with the same class in the commercial ships.
They consisted
mainly of dabs, plaice and gurnards, the largest number being
;
captured in August, in which month a young-haddock, a few
poor cod, whitings and coal—shes were included. There were
_
fourteen examples of other shes, such as frog—shes, skulpins,
pogges, &c.
,
From the foregoing it would appear
that St Andrews Bay
was, throughout, faiy supplied with food—shes towards the
,
close of the open period, and that the enormous numbers of
small plaice and dabs formed one of the salient features. The
_;
nomad shes, such as the gadoids, gurnardS, and herrings, were
more or less seasonal iii their Occur1*ence, the former especially _
_
characterising winter, a.single boat sometimes capturing from
_
50 to 80 cod within the limits of the bay.
.
'
But in addition to this method of ,estimating the piscine
contents of the bay, an‘_examination
of the rocky margins and
of the tidal pools showed that in JUIY swarms of young cod and
ÏÏ
young pleuronectids occurred, the former, gradually 1ncreasmg m -
»
size, remained till late in autumn,
while the pleuronect1ds d1-Stܓ
,
buted themselves along the
into the estuaries.
107
of the trawl.
Whatever the cause may‘have been the facts are
.
interesting.
The two hauls by a shing—boat with a 30-foot beam were
in daylight in June, and produced 215 saleable shes,
':i_'
chiey plaice, dabs, ounders, and thornbacks (36), the large
_
number of the latter probably being due to the close approach
made to the shore (sand).
The smaller and mostly unsaleable
ÏË "
shes (182) were chiefly plaice, dabs, and gurnards.
Fourteen hauls, chiey in daylight, by the “ Medusa” with
a small meshed trawl of 10-ft. beam gave
in July and August
51Æsaleable.shes, the majority being plaice and dabs. Only
two haddocks and ve gurnards represented the round shes,
which were too active to be captured by a small trawl. Con—
siderable variety, however,
shown, for turbot, brill, thorn—
hacks, long-rough dabs, lemon-dabs, and ounders were represented.
The unsaleable food-shes were 883—a comparatively
limited number when the small meshes of the naturalist’s trawl
are considered, though quite out of proportion when contrasted
with the same class in the commercial ships.
They consisted
mainly of dabs, plaice and gurnards, the largest number being
;
captured in August, in which month a young-haddock, a few
poor cod, whitings and coal—shes were included. There were
_
fourteen examples of other shes, such as frog—shes, skulpins,
pogges, &c.
,
From the foregoing it would appear
that St Andrews Bay
was, throughout, faiy supplied with food—shes towards the
,
close of the open period, and that the enormous numbers of
small plaice and dabs formed one of the salient features. The
_;
nomad shes, such as the gadoids, gurnardS, and herrings, were
more or less seasonal iii their Occur1*ence, the former especially _
_
characterising winter, a.single boat sometimes capturing from
_
50 to 80 cod within the limits of the bay.
.
'
But in addition to this method of ,estimating the piscine
contents of the bay, an‘_examination
of the rocky margins and
of the tidal pools showed that in JUIY swarms of young cod and
ÏÏ
young pleuronectids occurred, the former, gradually 1ncreasmg m -
»
size, remained till late in autumn,
while the pleuronect1ds d1-Stܓ
,
buted themselves along the
into the estuaries.