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sisted by Mh. “ANDREW Scort, and Mr. JAMES JOHNSTONE.

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WITH AN APPENDIX

GUIDE TO FISHERIES EXHIBITION,

"AT LIVERPOOL.

Ak he Oe EIVERPOOL : |
Prinrep By T. Doss & Co., 229, BrowNLow Hint.

“Sia rT 898.

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Report on the INVESTIGATIONS carried on in 1897 in
connection with the LANCASHIRE SEA-FISHERIES
Laporatory at University College, Liverpool, and
the SrEa-FisH HatrcHEery at Piel, near Barrow.

Drawn up by Professor W. A. Herpman, F'.R.S., Honorary
Director of the Scientific Work; Assisted by Mr. ANDREW
Scort, Resident Fisheries Assistant at Piel, and Mr.
JAMES JOHNSTONE, Fisheries Assistant at Liverpool.

CONTENTS :— PAGE
Introduction - - - = - = 2 1
The Hatchery and Labor atory at Piel - - - : 7
Outline of Work to be carried on at Piel - - - - 9
Sea-Fisheries Exhibition at Eu ue - - : = 13
Plankton Investigation - = = ated KG
Experimental Sea-Fish Hatching Aa Beant ing - : = 18
The Oyster Investigation —- E : 5 - 926
Report upon Preliminary Experiments at Riel a= - = 29
Note upon the Shad - - - - ey;
Appendix—Guide to F isheries Hxhibition - - - = 39
INTRODUCTION.

Durine the earlier part of the year a good deal of
Mr. Scott’s time was occupied in helping Mr. Dawson
and myself in preparing for the course of Sea-Fisheries
lectures, which was delivered in January, February, and
March in Liverpool. After that Mr. Scott was sent to
make some hatching experiments at Piel, and then had to
suddenly leave all the usual laboratory work and devote
most of his time to the preparation of the rather elaborate
exhibit which the Lancashire Sea-Fisheries Committee
sent to the Jubilee Exhibition at the Imperial Institute,
and which will be found fully described further on in this
Report. During this busy time one of the College
Laboratory lads, Mr. Tom Mercer, had to be drafted into

2

the fisheries work to help Mr. Scott and myself. It was
soon found that we could usefully employ the whole of
-Mercer’s time in this way, and later in the year he was
definitely taken over into the Committee’s service. During
most of the summer and autumn he worked under Mr.
Scott in arranging the Fisheries Exhibition in Liverpool,
and since October he has acted as attendant in charge of
that exhibition, and in doing any other work required in
connection with the collections, and helping generally in
the Fisheries Laboratory.

Mr. Scott went into residence at the Piel Hatchery on
December Ist, and his place in the Liverpool Fisheries
Laboratory has been filled by the appointment of Mr.
James Johnstone, from the Royal College of Science,
South Kensington, who entered upon his duties early in
the present month (January, 1898).

The course of Sea-Fisheries lectures delivered in Liver-
pool last spring by Mr. Dawson, Mr. Ascroft, Mr. Scott,
Mr. Thompson, Professor Boyce, and myself went off
successfully, and attracted a good deal of interest. Alder-
man Grindley attended the last lecture, and at the
conclusion of the course spoke in the name of the
Lancashire Sea-Fisheries Committee. The hope was
expressed by some of the audience and by the Press that
the course would be repeated in other parts of the district,
and that further lectures would be given in Liverpool.
Our Exhibition and Fisheries Collections at the College
now give us means of illustrating fishery courses, or of
arranging demonstrations on fishery subjects, such as can
exist in very few, if any, other centres in the country.

In January 1896, at the end of the Introduction to the
Report for 1895, in urging the formation of the Fisheries
Museum, which we now have, I pointed out that such
collections, showing the work we were doing and the

3

results we had arrived at, formed ‘‘ the practical evidence
that Fisheries Experts from abroad especially desire to see
when they come for information in regard to local fisheries
and the conditions under which they are carried on.” A
year after that, last February, I am glad to say we had a
visit from Dr. P. P. C. Hoek, Fisheries Scientific Adviser
in Holland, who was sent by his government to confer
with Prof. Boyce and myself as to our work on diseased
conditions of Oysters, and to see our specimens and
methods of investigation. Dr. Hoek stayed for some
time working in our laboratories, and was pleased to
express the opinion that he had thereby been saved a
good deal of valuable time by getting as rapidly as possible
into touch with the details of our work, so as to be able
to carry on investigations in Holland on similar lines,
We have also had an interesting visit from Dr. Johan
Hjort, Scientific Adviser on Fisheries to the Norwegian
government. We have had some correspondence with
Dr. Hjort since, and the Committee has been able to help
him in his work by sending him a shank trawl such as
we think will be best suited for the local conditions off
the south coast of Norway, where, at depths of over
60 fathoms Dr. Hjort has found considerable quanties of
Pandalus borealis, a large prawn, which he thinks might
be profitably fished.

During the summer I went to America, and took the
opportunity of seeing all I could of various kinds of
Fisheries Institutions, and of talking to fisheries authori-
ties both in Canada and the United States. I visited
hatcheries on the east coast of Canada, saw the enormous
numbers of salmon in the rivers of British Columbia on
the west coast, and also met Prof. Prince, the Commis-
sioner of Fisheries for the Dominion, as well as other
Canadian scientific men,

+

In the States I visited the head-quarters of the Fish
Commission at Washington, and had the advantage of
discussing their operations with a number of members of
the staff. I then went to the celebrated hatchery at
Wood’s Holl, where I spent a couple of days with the
Superintendent of the Hatchery, with the Collector (Mr.
Vinal Edwards), and the Captain of the ‘‘Grampus,”
learning all I could of the details of their work, both
as to sea-fish eggs and as to lobsters. Lastly, I went
to Gloucester, the chief centre of the fishing industries
of the American coast, and said to be the greatest fishing
port in the world. There is a sea-fish hatchery here also,
belonging to the Fish Commission, which has just recently
been enlarged in order to increase the output. At both
these hatcheries I saw the working of the McDonald
hatching jar for lobster eggs, which we propose to try
experimentally at Piel. It was interesting to learn at
Gloucester that when the Fish Commission proposed
lately to remove the hatchery from there to another
part of the coast, the fishermen objected to the removal
from their midst of what they regarded as a valuable
institution.

Many of the details of information which I was able to
learn on this tour of inspection will, I have no doubt, be
of use in our local operations, and some of these points
will be alluded to later on in this Report.

The chief additional matters I have to report upon this
year are :—

Ist.—A scheme which we started a year ago for the
simultaneous observation of the ’ or floating
fish food, &c., in the sea round our district, taken weekly
throughout the year, at half a dozen stations. We are
continuing the observations this year on an improved plan.

ce

plankton,’

5

2nd.—The experimental sea-fish hatching carried on
last Easter by Mr. Scott at Piel and by myself at Port
Erin; and in that connection the possibility of effecting
some union for fishery purposes with the local authorities
at the Isle of Man. I have pointed out in previous
Reports the community of interests in the case of the
Lancashire and the Manx sea areas. A Commission is
now sitting, under the chairmanship of the Bishop of
Sodor and Man, to consider and report upon the insular
industries, and the first industry they are dealing with is
the fisheries. This seems, then, to be an opportunity—
which would be welcomed, I believe, by those concerned
in the Isle of Man—for carrying out some joint arrange-
ment whereby young fish should be equally and efficiently
protected on both shores, shell-fish and lobster culture
be encouraged and regulated, and sea-fish hatcheries be
established.

3rd.—The continuation of the work by Prof. Boyce and
myself upon diseased conditions in Oysters and other
shell-fish (see below, p. 26). It is interesting in this
connection to note that the whole of my last year’s
account of this subject, amounting to about twenty pages
of our Fisheries Laboratory Report, has been translated
and printed by the French Fisheries authorities in the
‘Bulletin des Péches Maritimes”’ for August, p. 273,
under the title of ‘‘ Recherches sur les Huitres.”’

In addition to the work recorded in this Report, during
the year several samples of sewage and other effluents
discharging from pipes into our estuaries have been
examined by my assistants, and I have given my opinion
to the Committee as to whether or not, under all the
circumstances, these discharges could be considered as
injurious to the fisheries of the neighbourhood.

6

I have also prepared, at the request of the Chairman,
an outline scheme of work to be undertaken at Piel (see
below, p. 9.), and a Memorandum on Technical Instruc-
tion for Fishermen, from which I quote the following
opinion :—

‘“‘Instead of sending lecturers to various parts of the
district, it would be better to bring parties of selected men
from the different fishing centres to Liverpool to hear
some fishery lectures in the University, where there are
facilities for effective illustration, and to be shown matters
practically in the Fisheries Laboratory and in the Museum.
I should recommend, also, that these same men should
be sent afterwards in the same way to our Marine
Hatchery at Piel during the hatching season.”

It has been suggested that a useful addition to our
investigation during the last two years of the currents of
the Irish Sea by means of drift bottles would be the
liberation of large numbers of drift bottles at the spots
where we find fish spawn. We propose to use empty
wine bottles weighted with sand so as to float submerged,
with our usual post-card attached to the inner end of the
cork. The bottles are now being prepared, and will be
set free from the steamer during the spawning season.

I append to this Report :—
(A.) A note on the Shad, by Mr. R. L. Ascroft.

(B.) A guide to the very successful Sea-Fisheries
Exhibition at University College, which was
opened by Mr. John Fell on October 29th.

W. A. HERDMAN.

JANUARY, 1898.

Tuor HATCHERY AND LABORATORY AT PIEL.

At the end of last year’s Report, brief reference was
made to the establishment of a Sea-Fish Hatchery and
Station for experimental work at Roa Island, known to the
post-office as Piel, in the Barrow Channel, and about five
miles from Barrow. Piel is now connected with the
mainland by a railway embankment, and there are several
trains in the day, each way, from Barrow. The ‘“ Villa
Marina” (appropriate name) has been secured by lease
from the Furness Railway Co., by the Sea-Fisheries
Committee, and has been modified and adapted to the
new purposes—fisheries investigation and experiment—
under the direction of the Scientific Sub-Committee.
Two rooms and a passage on the ground floor have been
thrown together to form a large, well-lighted laboratory,
36 by over 20 feet, capable of affording comfortable work-
ing space for six students or investigators. The former
lifeboat house, measuring 44 by over 16 feet, has been
connected with a room opening from the kitchen, and has
been fitted up with aquaria and hatching tanks. It will
be referred to in future as the tank-house: it is well
lighted by both side windows and sky-lights.

The rest of the house gives plenty of accommodation
both for additional laboratories, if needed in the future,
and for residential requirements. In addition to the
kitchens and pantries, there are two public rooms, the
dining-room and the library, a photographic dark-room,
and three or four bed-rooms for the working naturalists.
Two rooms upstairs have been handed over to the resident
Scientific Assistant, Mr. Andrew Scott, and two to the
resident bailiff, Mr. H. Richardson. Other rooms remain
unfurnished, available for such purposes as may seem best
as requirements develop.

8

The laboratory has 8 windows, on its N., E.,and 8. sides,
and is fitted with both fixed and movable work tables,
with wall shelving, cupboards, sets of drawers, sinks, gas,
and both fresh and sea water. It is not proposed to have
any fixed tanks in the laboratory. Small movable aquaria
can be accommodated, but larger ones are confined to the
tank-house. Apparatus and reagents are provided.

The tank-house has two large storage cisterns in the
loft, capable of containing over 5,000 gallons of sea water.
These are filled by a supply pipe from a 3-horse power
Crossley gas engine and pump, which draws the water
from a carefully chosen spot on the beach. Pumping can
be carried on for about 4 hours during an ordinary tide,
and the pumps are capable of supplying 2,500 gallons per
hour. From the cisterns the water is led to the filter,
where it passes upwards through 3 folds of thick blanket,
and then to the concrete and plate-glass wall tanks, of
which there are four, measuring respectively 11 by 3 by 3
feet, 74 by 3 by 6 feet, 4 by 3 by 3 feet, and 33 by 3 by 13
feet.

There are also several floor tanks of concrete, of large
size, which will be suitable for Lobsters and other
shell-fish. The wooden hatching tanks were made in
Liverpool, and are exactly like those described and figured
in our last Report. They measure each 5 by 23 by 13
feet. These, and the various smaller wooden tanks and
glass aquaria are movable. We have also several of
the American McDonald hatching jars, which will be
used for Lobster eggs.

Sometime ago, at the request of the Scientific Sub-
Committee, I prepared a statement of the work which I
proposed should be carried on at Piel. This was adopted
by the Committee, and I now reprint it here in order that
it may be placed on permanent record.

9

‘‘ WEMORANDUM sent to the Chairman of the Lancashire
Sea-Fisheries Committee, for the use of the Scientific
Sub-Committee, by Prof. W. A. Herdman, in October,
1897, on an

“OUTLINE SCHEME OF WORK FOR THE PIEL SEA-FISH

HATCHERY.

“T think that the Institution at Piel, although it may
serve several useful purposes, ought to be regarded as
primarily for the hatching of sea-fish and Lobster eggs,
and for experiments upon the further rearing of young
sea-fish and upon the life history of shell-fish. That is,
the ECONOMIC work ought to be regarded as of first-rate
importance, and nothing else ought to be allowed to
interfere with it. Mr. Scott ought to be instructed to
give his whole attention to making the hatching and
rearing a success. In my visit to America this summer,
I made a careful study of the methods of the United States
Fish Commission, at their two celebrated Hatcheries, at
Woods Holl and at Gloucester. In each case the Insti-
tution is under the charge of a resident ‘‘ Superintendent,”’
who gives his whole time and attention to making the
hatching and rearing a practical success. These men try
to perfect every little detail of the cheese cloth in the
hatching boxes, of the jets of water, of the cleansing of
the boxes, the removal of dead ova, of the distribution of
the fry, and so on—the little details upon which the
economic results depend. Research and teaching are left
entirely in other hands, and are carried on for the most
part in other Institutions, such as the Biological Labor-
atory at Woods Holl and the Central Institution in
Washington.

‘IT would propose, however, that the Piel Hatchery be

10

used secondarily, and so as not to interfere with the
primary object, for two other purposes, viz. :—

‘“‘1st—For teaching the practical details of hatching and
rearing to selected fishermen from different parts of the
district, who might be brought in small parties at the
proper season and have their expenses paid. A visit to
Piel would probably be much more instructive after one had
heard a lecture or two on the eggs, reproduction, fertiliza-
tion, and development of fishes ; and, as all others matters
connected with the fisheries can be much more efficiently
and conveniently taught at University College, Liverpool,
where there are the laboratories and collections, it would
be better for such fishermen to visit Piel after attending a
course at Liverpool. The Piel Institution ought also to
be available for the instruction in practical hatching of an
occasional young man who is training himself with the
view of filling some fishery post, such as superintendent
of a district, or Scientific Fisheries Assistant in charge of
a hatchery. Such a man ought first to go, as a student,
through a regular course of zoology at a University labora-
tory, and then a prolonged visit to Piel during a hatching
season, ought to be of the greatest benefit to him.

‘‘9nd.—The- other object which I should like to see
fostered at Piel, so far as is compatible with the hatching
work, is the encouragement of research by independent
biologists, such as the members of the Liverpool Biological
Society. Our knowledge of fishery matters owes much
to the investigations of such men in the past, and I hope
will owe still more in the future. I do not doubt that
any small expense the Committee may be put to in
giving facilities to professional zoologists for pursuing
their investigations at Piel will be well-spent money, and
will bring in a good return in the form of increased

11

knowledge in regard to the conditions of marine life in
our district.

“‘T should deprecate, however, the extension of any
such facilities to students from our Colleges. There are
plenty of teaching marine institutions already round our
coasts to satisfy the demand, and at these institutions the
students require and receive a great deal of attention,
which we could not give them at Piel. Our Committee
and our Institution have nothing to gain from such
students, who would occupy work places much better
reserved for professional or amateur zoologists conducting
serious investigations.

“To sum up. For the reasons given above I should
recommend :—

‘“1st—That Mr. Scott be instructed to devote all his
attention to the hatching and rearing, and to allied practical
investigations.

‘‘9nd—That parties of fishermen be brought from time
to time to have practical sea-fish hatching and rearing
demonstrated to them.

“ 8rd—That any young men in training as fisheries
experts be encouraged to come and study operations at
Piel, after being through a zoological course at some
University.

‘*4th—That no other teaching, either of fishermen or
of ordinary science students, be attempted at Piel, but
be left to other institutions, such as the College labora-
tories, which are fitted for that purpose, and where it
can be done better, and without interfering with more
important economic work.

‘“5th—That all possible encouragement be given to
competent zoologists to come and pursue their investiga-
tions at Piel, free of charge.

‘Further, as to the details of the economic work to be

12

undertaken at Piel, I feel that these must develop according
to local circumstances and as opportunities arise, but I
may put down as a general programme :—

““The hatching of ordinary food fish, such as Cod,
Haddock, Whiting, Plaice and the allied flat fish.

“The development and after-rearing of such young fish
as are hatched.

“The cultivation of the food of fish, especially of young fish.

“The hatching of Lobsters’ eggs both in shallow tanks
and in McDonald jars.

“The rearing of young Lobsters, and the stocking of
of suitable spots on the scars.

‘The investigation of the feeding and breeding and the
life history in general of shell-fish, and especially of the
Mussel and the Cockle.

“The laying down of Oysters, and various other experi-
mental attempts to improve our local shell-fish cultivation,
and re-stock the beds.

‘““There are various other more theoretical and general
items of work, such as the codifying of the statistics obtained
in the district, enquires into the distribution and migration
of fishes throughout the year, and so on, which will
probably be better done at the Liverpool Laboratory,
where large libraries are at hand, and where other scientific
opinion is available for consultation; but possibly Mr.
Scott might be able to help in that work also at times of
the year when he is not very fully engaged with his more
special economic operations. Similarly the Assistant at
the Liverpool Laboratory will be able to help Mr. Scott
when there is a press of work at Piel.

“This programme of work for Mr. Scott ought to be
regarded as rather elastic, and susceptible of modification
or extension as needs may arise from time to time.
October, 1897. (Signed) ‘“W. A. HERDMAN.’

15

SEA-FISHERIES EXHIBITION.

As the Sea-Fisheries Committee desired that Lancashire
should be represented in the Yachting and Fisheries Exhi-
bition held at the Imperial Institute last summer, Mr.
Dawson and I, with the assistance of Mr. Scott, arranged,
during the spring, an exhibit which should illustrate both
the administrative and the scientific sides of the Com-
mittee’s work. As it was clearly important that the
exhibit should be available for use locally in different parts
of Lancashire, three light but substantial pitch pine
museum cases, so constructed that they could readily be
taken to pieces and packed up for transit by rail, were
made for us by Mr. R. Garner, the Superintendent of the
Wood-working Department of University College. These
three cases (labelled A to C) showed, as arranged at the
Imperial Institute, in April :—

A. Examples of the results obtained from the scientific
work in the Fisheries Laboratory.

B. Samples of the scientific papers and reports and
the statistics and other statements as to the fisheries
published by the Committee, and of photographs, draw-
ings, and lithographic plates illustrating the fishery work
of this district.

C. Specimens of fish taken with various nets, samples
of meshes, models of nets and various other fishery
implements, gauges, and other illustrations of the work of
the Administrative Department.

These three cases together cover all the varied activities
of the Committee’s work. In addition our exhibit included
samples of nets and trawls, maps, charts, regulations and
notices, models of boats, &c., &e.

The Lancashire exhibit was not at all well placed at
the Imperial Institute. In place of being beside the

14

other scientific exhibits—such as that of the Marine
Biological Association—in the large north gallery, it was
in a small badly lighted annexe; but several scientific
men and others (such as the editor of the ‘‘ Fish Trades
Gazette’’) remarked publicly upon the interesting and
important nature of the Lancashire Exhibit.

At the close of the London Exhibition the cases and
their contents were brought back to Liverpool, and, with
the sanction of the Committee and the permission of the
authorities of University College, Mr. Scott and I arranged,
during the autumn, a small but representative Sea-
Fisheries Exhibition, of which the London Exhibit
formed the nucleus, in the College Museum of Zoology.
This exhibition was formally opened by the Chairman of
the Lancashire Sea-Fisheries Committee in the presence
of a representative audience on October 29th. An address
was delivered by Mr. Fell upon ‘“‘Some Aspects of the
Work of Sea-Fisheries Committees, and speeches were
made by the Principal of University College, the Chairman
of the Technical Instruction Committee of the Liverpool
City Council, and others. The exhibit was then opened
to the public during the next few weeks on certain hours
and days. At the end of three weeks I was able to report
to the November Meeting of the Committee that over
1000 persons had visited the exhibition, and when we
finally closed it at the end of the year, the total number
of visitors was 1,550. On several days set demonstrations
or explanations of the collection were given to a party
of Board School teachers, to a group of fishermen from
Hoylake, and to a company of children.

The museum, the nature of its contents, and the
speeches at the opening of the exhibition were very fully
and favourably reported by the Liverpool Press, and there
is reason to believe that not only was the exhibition of

15

interest to many people in Liverpool and the neighbour-
hood, but that it led to a more general diffusion of useful
information as to the objects of our Sea-Fisheries Com-
mittee and as to its methods of work. It is only in
this way, and by courses of public lectures, that we can
hope to secure a wider knowledge and appreciation of
fisheries work, of the object of regulations, and the value
of scientific investigation. The Catalogue of the Sea-
Fisheries Exhibition, as arranged in Liverpool, is appended
to this report.

‘* PLANKTON ’”’ INVESTIGATION.

One of the most important determining factors in the
distribution and movements of fish is clearly their food.
In past reports we have given a considerable amount of
information of the same kind as has been given elsewhere
by other fishery investigators, as to the more or less fixed
food derived from the sea bottom in the case of most of
our common edible fishes. We are now making a more
systematic study than has yet been done in this district
of the floating and drifting fish food found in the surface
and deeper layers of water throughout the sea, and which
is coming to be called ‘“‘plankton.’’ Much of the plankton
consists of microscopic plants and animals which are,
throughout their life, in a free condition. But another
important constituent is the enormous quantity of eggs,
embryos, and larval stages of many animals which, in
the adult condition, are to be found on the sea bottom.
These young stages are most of them only to be found at
certain times of the year, and consequently the plankton
differs considerably, both in nature and amount, according
to the season, and also, to some extent, according to the
weather. As the plankton is liable to be moved about
from place to place by tidal and other currents, by pre-

16

vailing winds and by exceptional gales, it is evident that
its condition in our area of the Irish Sea must be affected
somewhat, from time to time, by that of the west coast
of Scotland, of the Irish coasts, and of the Atlantic. As
the plankton is a very important element of the food of
many of our fishes in their younger stages and of some
even when full grown, it can scarcely be doubted that a
detailed knowledge of the condition and movements of the
plankton throughout the year will give us important in-
formation as to the distribution of fish.

For the last ten years the Liverpool Marine Biological
Committee have been paying more or less attention to the
plankton during their numerous dredging expeditions in
the Irish Sea, and in the Eleventh Report of that Com-
mittee, just published, a summary is given of the chief
observations which have been made up to the present.*

A year ago, with the help of Mr. Andrew Scott, I
organised a scheme for the weekly collection of surface
plankton throughout 1897 at six stations in our district.
The localities were Port Erin (I. of Man), New Brighton
(near Liverpool), Lytham and mouth of Ribble (coast
of Laneashire), Piel (Barrow Channel), and from the
Fisheries steamer, at sea, wherever she happened to
be. The collections were taken, preserved, and sent to
the Laboratory at Liverpool, where they were measured
by Mr. Scott and then examined in detail. The scheme
was started towards the end of January, and was kept
up as regularly as possible—perfect regularity is not
possible, first, on account of the weather, and secondly,
because the bailiffs who take the gatherings are hable to

* Prof. M‘Intosh had carried out similar investigations for the Scottish
Fishery Board in 1888 (see Seventh Ann. Rep, Fish. Bd., Scot., p. 259, 1889).
More recently Messrs. Bourne, Bles, Garstang, and others at Plymouth have
recorded the variations in the plankton at different times of the year,

WY,

be called off occasionally to other duties. During the
first fourteen weeks the number of gatherings received
out of the possible six were—5, 6, 4, 3, 4, 2, 3, 4, 4, 3, 3,
5, 3, 4.

These gatherings, which have been worked up fully,
bring the record up to the end of April. The rest of the
~ collection, which is now in process of being examined, con-
sists of some sixty tubes, giving an average of nearly
two a week for the remainder of the year. Taking
these statistics, along with the many previous less com-
plete records that we have, extending back for ten or twelve
years, there are some prominent features of the collections,
looking at them week by week and month by month, that
arrest attention—the abundance of Sagitta in January
and February; the comparative scarcity of Copepoda early
in the year; the abundance of diatoms, such as Biddul-
phia, Coscinodiscus, Rhizosolenia, and Chetoceros, in
February and early spring; the appearance of Nauplei
and then other larval forms in February and March;
the comparative scarcity of plankton all round in February
and March (except when gelatinous Alge sometimes
swarm in the latter month); its increase in April,
and especially the increased abundance of pelagic Coel-
enterates and of Copepoda in early summer ; the appear-
ance of fish eggs and embryos and larval fish in abundance
about Easter; the disappearance of Nauplei and other
larvee as summer goes on, and the great increase in Meduseze
and Ctenophora; the quantities of Oikopleura which appear
in the height of the summer; the abundance of Dino-
flagellates in late summer and autumn ; the great relative
abundance of life in general during July, August, and
September; and lastly, the rapid diminution in the
amount and variety of plankton during the last few
months of the year.

18

There are, on the other hand, some organisms, such as
the Alge Halosphera and Tetraspora, the Infusorian
Noctiluca, and the Copepod Anomalocera, which seem to
vary greatly in their abundance from year to year; but
probably when we have a more complete knowledge of
the plankton of the North Atlantic, and of the relations
existing between physical conditions and the distribution
of organisms, we shall be able to assign rational causes
for these curious irregularities in the floating population
of our seas. ‘To give an example of such irregular distri-
bution, one of our very few records of Nocti/uca during the
year is ‘‘off the Morecambe Bay Light Vessel,” on June
28th, when it is said there were ‘“‘ miles of this material.”
The gathering consists entirely of Noctiluca. It was
taken during a heavy thunderstorm.

It is interesting, in this connection, to note that of all
the tow-net gatherings which I took this summer in
crossing the Atlantic twice, between Liverpool and
Quebec, once at the beginning of August, and again at
the end of September, those from the sea around the Isle
of Man, between Liverpool bar and the north of Ireland,
were the richest in species. The lists of organisms
observed in the gatherings in question, are given in full
in a paper which has been recently published by Mr.
Thompson, Mr. Scott, and myself.*:—

We have arranged that during 1898 plankton gatherings
will be taken weekly at the same six localities as in 1897,
but a little further out to sea to avoid the disturbing
influences of the shore.

EXPERIMENTAL SEA-FISH HATCHING.

Dourine the last spawning season we continued our
experiments, commenced the previous year, on the hatch-

* Trans. L’pool. Biol. Soc., vol. XII., p. 33,

19

ing of edible sea-fish in our local waters. Mr. Scott
carried on the work in the boat-house at Piel, in order to
test the water of the Barrow Channel, while I repeated
the experience of the previous Easter at Port Erin in
the south-end of the Isle of Man.

About the middle of April the Sea-Fisheries steamer,
John Fell,’ came to Port Erin under the direction of
Mr. R. A. Dawson, for the purpose of searching for
spawning fish. On Saturday, April 17th, we trawled
mature fish of various kinds both flat and round, but did
not succeed in getting both males and females of the same
species in the ripe condition, and consequently no eggs
were fertilized. On Monday, April 19th, we were more
fortunate, and obtained to the north-west of Port Erin
Lemon Soles and “ Witches” spawning, and were able
to fertilize the egys. We also found spawning Megrims
(Arnoglossus laterna), and, as an experiment, we fertilized
the eggs with the milt of a ripe Cod. Asa result large
numbers of the following embryos were started on their
development in the Aquarium on the afternoon of the
19th :—

In tank I.—lLemon Soles (Pleuronectes microcephalus).

In tank I1.—‘‘ Witches” (Pleuronectes cynoglossus).

In tank I11.—Ova of Megrim fertilized by mult of Cod.

The arrangement of the hatching tanks, and the
apparatus for the circulation of the water was described
and illustrated in last year’s Report.* The water during
the hatching kept at a specific gravity of from ‘26 to ‘27
and at a temperature of from 46° to 47° Fahr. The cross
between the Megrim (a flat fish) and the Cod only
developed for from three to four days, and then all the
embryos became abnormal and distorted, and died.

* See also Trans. Biol. Soc., vol XI., p. 67 and Pls. I,—IY.

20

On April 26th the Witches began to move inside the
ege covering, on the 27th the Lemon Soles were wriggling,
and on the 28th both hatched out, eight and a half days
after fertilization of the eggs.

Mr. Scott went to Piel at the beginning of March fora -
couple of months in order to test the water there by
seeing how the keeping of various marine animals and
the hatching of spawn compared with our experiences at
Port Erin. I give further on (p. 29) Mr. Scott’s report
to me upon his work at Piel, from which it is obvious
that, although some measure of success was obtained
in temporary premises under ‘‘ make-shift’ arrangements,
the work was greatly hampered by the large amount of
sediment in the water. We hope that the storage tanks
and filter, which have now been established at the Piel
Hatchery, will remove this difficulty, and will render the
water more like that at the south-end of the Isle of Man,
where no filtering is necessary.

We hope, then, in the present season, with a continuous
supply of water, the larger tanks, filter, and more efficient
apparatus altogether, to conduct the hatching work more
successfully, and to deal with much greater quantities of
eggs. When, however, the little fish is hatched out, only
half the work—and that probably by far the easier part—
is done. I think it most important that we should make
all possible attempts to rear the fry through their larval
and post-larval stages, as far as possible, before setting
them free in the sea. For this purpose other tanks,
besides the hatching ones, will be necessary; and shallow
ponds in the open air, or enclosed areas of the sea shore,
would be a great advantage. The most suitable food,
whether natural—such as diatoms, copepoda, and the
like—or artificial, for each stage, will have to be ascer-

21

tained, and, if necessary, reared and kept in ponds for the
purpose.

It is interesting to notice that Mr. Harald Dannevig
has been experimenting with the fry of plaice in this
manner at the Dunbar Hatchery of the Fishery Board for
Scotland (see Fifteenth Report, p. 175, 1897), and has
succeeded in rearing them through their post-larval stages
until they had undergone their transformation into little
plaice and settled on the bottom.

In the Eleventh Annual Report (for 1896) of the Sea-
Fisheries Inspectors for England and Wales, Mr. C. E.
Fryer makes some interesting observations upon the
results obtained by the artificial hatching of sea fish,
especially in the hatcheries of Newfoundland and the
United States. Upon some of these reports, and Mr.
Fryer’s comments, I desire to make some further remarks.
According to the Director of the Hatchery near Arendal,
in Norway, about 300,000,000 Cod can be hatched for an
expenditure of about £600, that is at the rate of a million
for £2, or something over 2,000 young fish at the cost of
ohe penny—a very moderate cost if even a few only of
the fish grow to maturity, or if, by increasing the swarms
of young fry, which must be eaten by their natural
enemies, they so enable some of the (perhaps stronger)
naturally hatched fish to escape destruction.

Mr. Fryer’s comments upon the figures which he
quotes in connection with the hatcheries of Newfoundland
and the United States, rather give the impression that
he is disappointed at the absence of more definite results,
and that he feels that an absence of increase, or even a
decrease in the fisheries, is not compatible with the claim
that the addition of millions of artificially hatched fry to
the sea must be a benefit to the local fisheries. But it is,
perhaps, unreasonable to expect, as the Commissioner of

22

Fisheries in Newfoundland remarks in his Report for
1895, a great increase of fish after such a short trial of
artificial hatching. A Cod fish requires four years to
reach maturity. A vast number of the young Cod fish
planted must perish from natural causes, and only a
small percentage can be expected to grow up and form
marketable fish.

The increase to a fishery can, therefore, only be gradual,
and time is required to determine the value of this im-
portant experiment. I may add that it may well be that
a fishery which is not increasing is still greatly benefited
by the results of artificial hatching. On the other hand,
I think it quite as unreasonable to attribute any marked
increase of fish in a district entirely to the hatching
operations, unless it can be definitely proved that the
young fish caught are the produce of the hatchery. I
agree with Mr. Fryer that, in the case of the reported
increase of Cod in the neighbourhood of Dildo during
1895 (and again in 1896), it is at least as reasonable to
attribute the early catch of the fish to natural conditions,
such as the increased temperature of the water, as to
claim it as a result of the artificial hatching of a few
million of Cod eggs at that place in 1890 and 1891. The
careful observations of the Fish Commission have estab-
lished the fact that the Gulf Stream fluctuates considerably
from time to time in its extension towards Newfoundland in
the north, and we now know that the tile fish (Lophola-
tilus chameleonticeps) is influenced in its distribution on
the east coast of North America by the condition of the
Gulf Stream. The Cod, and other fishes, are probably
also affected in a somewhat similar manner. But all this
is absolutely no argument against artificial hatching.
Natural circumstances will be sometimes with us and
sometimes against us, and when they are with us they

23

will probably be more powerful than anything that man
can do; but whether under favourable or adverse circum-
stances man’s little effort should also be made to restore
the balance of nature by returning to the sea some
proportion of what he takes from it.

This is hkewise true of Lobster hatching, and it is
important to note that the greater number of the eggs
from which young Lobsters are hatched in American
hatcheries are taken from parent Lobsters which are on
their way to the tinning factories ; and, therefore, it may
fairly be claimed that millions of embryo Lobsters are
saved from certain destruction, and given a chance at
least of prolonged life and of reaching adult size.

There are a couple of Mr. Fryer’s general observations
in regard to which I would make a remark, because I
believe he has pointed out difficulties in the artificial
operations which it is important to guard against. He
remarks that ‘‘the tendency under the artificial conditions
of a hatchery is towards an increased temperature, which
hastens development of both ova and embryo, and causes
them to anticipate the natural period for hatching, regard-
less of the general climatic conditions of the season.”’
Well, this must be prevented, and it is not difficult in
early spring—the usual hatching season—to keep the
water in the tanks as cool as that in the sea. In the
height of summer it is different, but at that time the sea
itself 1s probably sufficiently warm to prevent there being
any ill results from a few days anticipation of the period
at which the hatching would take place in nature.

Mr. Fryer says further :—‘‘ Then—as to the circum-
stance under which the young fry are ‘ planted ’—while
they would be hatched naturally in deep open water, of a
high density and comparatively low temperature, they
are almost of necessity liberated in shallow water, of

24

relatively low density and high temperature.’ I fail to
see the necessity, and I feel it very important that fry
should not be liberated in such unsuitable waters. We
must endeavour to plant them in the localities where they
are naturally found, and in the condition under which
they are naturally deposited and developed, so that they
may grow and be distributed in the pelagic waters in the
ordinary course of nature, and find their way gradually
into the shallow water nurseries. It will be easy, for
example, in our own district to carry this out by running
the boxes of fry on the steamer out into deep water
over the natural spawning grounds before setting them
free. I hope, however, that before long we shall have
taken the further step and be attempting to rear some of
the newly hatched fry to later stages within enclosed
areas.

The Fishery Board for Scotland, in their ‘‘ General
Statement’ (see Fourteenth Annual Report, 1896, p. 10)
as to the utility of Sea-Fish Hatching, say: — ‘‘ The
artificial propagation of the food fishes on a large scale
may now be regarded as having passed beyond the sphere
of experiment, and taken its place as a department of
practical pisciculture,”’ &c. I do not go quite so far as
that, but would regard the operations as being still in the
experimental stage, although I consider the experiment as
being of very great importance, and one it is the duty of
fishery authorities to test thoroughly, and I agree rather
with their further remark from the same page of the
Report :—“‘ It is, however, of importance that the economic
results of marine pisciculture should be as speedily as
possible ascertained. Its utility as a means of benefiting
the sea fisheries depends upon the extent to which it is
likely to increase the abundance of the fishes propagated.”

Marine biologists and fisheries authorities everywhere

25

must be anxious to see some definite scientific experiment
carried out which would gauge the extent of the results
of artificial hatching in a given area, but such an experi-
ment is, from the nature of things, most difficult to devise
and to keep free from disturbing elements. It is not
difficult, perhaps, to define the conditions of the experi-
ment in words, but it is very difficult to carry them out
satisfactorily in nature. What is wanted is a fjord
or circumscribed sea area of which the fish population is
approximately known, or in regard to which, at least, we
have reliable statistics extending over a number of years,
so that we know what an average catch, under given
conditions, ought to consist of. To this area the hatched
fry must be added, and the fishing must be regulated, and
exact records of both processes kept. The experiment
must run for at least five or six years—better ten—so as
to allow time for the growth of the fish and to eliminate
any possible climatic disturbances during a few of the
years. It would be important, as a control experiment,
to have a second similar area, close at hand, under similar
physical conditions and in which the same amount of
fishing is carried on, but to which no fry are added.

Dr. C. G. Joh. Petersen, of the Danish Biological
Station, in his last Annual Report (VI., 1897) upon the
conditions of plaice population in the Limfjord, expresses
his conviction that there is an abundant supply, or in his
own word, an ‘ of young plaice pro-

’

‘over-population,’
duced naturally in the German sea, and that the difficulty
to be met lies, not in a scarcity of fry, but in securing
that the young fish, having passed through all the dangers
of early life, shall be spared from capture until they have
reached the age at which their marketable value 1s greatest.
He recommends, therefore, a system of artificial trans-
plantation to suitable grounds, such as some parts of the

26

Limfjord, of undersized plaice, and he considers that this
might lead to a great increase in the value of the plaice
fisheries.

This superabundance of young plaice may possibly be
present in some special localities, but I doubt whether it
is at all general, and I do not see how, in the face of
natural enemies and of fishing operations, we can speak
of an over-population anywhere until it has been proved
that there are more young fish than the ground and the
food will support. I do not think that there is any
evidence that anywhere in our district have we any young
fish to spare. But still Dr. Petersen’s observations are
full of interest, and I think we might benefit by his
suggestion in one particular. In view of the destruction
of young fish effected in some of our nurseries by the
Shrimp trawlers, it might be well to carry out transplant-
ation experiments, such as those he proposes for Denmark,
and remove some millions of young plaice and other
immature fish from grounds where a large proportion of
them are doomed to destruction, to other localities of a
suitable nature where they can feed and grow in peace.
The institution of ‘sanctuaries’? amongst our fish
nurseries 1s eminently desirable.

OysTER INVESTIGATION.

The investigations on the bacteriology and various
diseased conditions of Oysters and other shell-fish, and
on their possible connection with public health questions,
are still being carried on by Prof. Boyce, Dr. Kohn, and
myself. In July we communicated a paper to the Royal
Society, giving an account of the presence of relatively
large quantities of copper in certain green leucocytes
found in a diseased condition of the American Oyster as
bedded on our coasts. The Oysters sufferimg from this

27

leucocytosis are always more or less green, but must not be
confounded with ordinary green-gilled Oysters, where the
colour is due to a totally distinct cause. Later in the
summer, at the Toronto meeting of the British Associa-
tion, we gave a further account of our investigations up
to date, and from that report I quote the following account
of the micro-chemical part of the work * :—

“The following are our details of the histo-chemical
investigation of the pigment. The green pigment is
insoluble in boiling alcohol, ether, chloroform, xylol, and
other fat solvents; it is soluble in dilute acids and alkalies.
The addition of potassic ferrocyanide to sections contain-
ing the green colouring matter, or to the leucocytes
themselves, gives a red reaction, indicating the presence
of copper; but the reaction can be most readily obtained
by the addition of a small quantity of °5 per cent. hydro-
chloric acid to the potassic ferrocyanide. Ammonium-
hydrogen sulphide gives also an immediate reaction with
the green pigment. Ammonia strikes a beautiful blue
wherever there is a green. It was then found that pure
hematoxylin is an extremely delicate test, giving an
immediate blue reaction in exceedingly dilute solution.
Previous treatment of the green colouring matter by 3 per
cent. nitric acid in alcohol prevented these reactions, and
subsequent treatment with acidulated potassic ferrocyanide
resulted in a very faint general prussian blue colouration
of the tissue generally. We concluded that there was no
inorganic tron present in the leucocytes, that the leuco-
cytes which form the green patches contain a considerable
quantity of copper, and that, just as in the case of iron,
as shown by Professor Macallum, pure hematoxylin is a
most delicate test, but that great care must be taken to

* For further details on some points see Proceedings of Royal Society,
vol. LXII., p. 30, 1897.

28

ascertain by other reagents which of the metals is present.
Very numerous tests were made with the blood obtained
from white Oysters, and micro-chemical reactions revealed
in some instances faint traces of copper. Hemocyanin
has been described in the blood of Molluscs and apparently
in the blood of the Oyster. We have examined numerous
samples of blood taken from the white Oyster, but have
failed to get any blue colouration on exposure to air. In
the green Oysters a very faint blue colour has been noticed
in some cases on exposing the blood to air.”

I quote the following conclusion from the Royal Society
paper :—

‘Our results demonstrated the presence of copper in
comparatively large quantity in the green leucocytes,
chiefly in the American Oyster, but also in the ‘‘ natives ”’
from Falmouth and other localities. We have shown
that the colour was in proportion to the amount of copper
present, and that the colourless leucocytes contained only
traces of that metal. The deposition of the copper in this
large quantity appears to us to represent a degenerative
condition. It was accompanied by a most striking
increase of leucocytes, which tended to distend the vessels
and to collect in clumps, phenomena which are abnormal
in our experience in the Oyster. The presence of the
copper in the leucocytes in these cases might be compared
to that of the iron which is met with, in man, in some of
the leucocytes in cases of old hemorrhages, pernicious
anemia, or in other cases where iron is set free. We
are not prepared to state whether copper in the food can
bring about this condition, but certainly we have abundant
evidence to show that it can occur where no copper mines
or other evident sources of copper are present.

‘We are inclined to suggest that the increase in copper
may be due to a disturbed metabolism, whereby the

29

normal copper of the hemocyanin, which is probably
passing through the body in minute amounts, ceases to
be removed, and so becomes stored up in certain cells.”

PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENTS AT PIEL.

Mr. Scott gives me the following report upon his work,
at the Piel Hatchery, during March and April, 1897 :—

“In accordance with instructions received from the
Scientific Sub-Committee, through Prof. Herdman, I went
to Piel on March 2nd, for the purpose of carrying out the
various experiments suggested in order to test the suita-
bility of the water there for fish hatching, and for the
study of the development and life histories of economic
marine animals in general. I remained there, with the
exception of a fortnight when I was recalled to Liverpool
to assist in the preparations for the Fisheries Exhibition,
for practically two months.

‘““The experiments were carried out in the old Life-Boat
house, which had been fitted up as a temporary laboratory
and tank house, and the apparatus used was a set of three
tanks, exactly similar to the ones used in the experiments
at Port Erin last year (see Report for 1896, p. 12); a few
smaller tanks and glass aquaria were also employed from
time to time. Owing to the structure of the place, the lifting
apparatus, described in our last Report, could not be used
for circulating the water, so we had to put up a store tank
capable of holding about 200 gallons, which the bailiffs
filled up as required; from this tank the water was siphoned
off into the uppermost of the three tanks and allowed to
circulate by gravitation throughout the system. The
apparatus was put into working order with the least
possible delay, and everything made ready for the recep-
tion of the fertilized eggs.

‘“‘ An accident to the steamer, rendering it unfit for sea,

30

prevented it from being placed at our disposal to obtain.
the required fertilized eggs, but through arrangements
made with Mr. Leadbetter, of Fleetwood, a member of
the Committee, I was permitted to visit the fishing
erounds in the sailing trawler ‘ Harriet.’ Accompanied
by one of the bailiffs from Piel, we left that place early
on the morning of the 10th March, having previously
arranged to meet the ‘ Harriet’ outside the harbour not
later than 6 a.m. A heavy sea was running outside, and
no sign of the vessel could be seen, so it was decided to
run to Fleetwood, and on arrival there we found that she
had not gone out owing to the storm. By this time, how-
ever, the weather showed signs of improvement, and the
captain arranged to sail that same afternoon. During the
time we were waiting at Fleetwood we visited the fish
market, and had a look at the condition of the fish landed
from the trawlers that morning, and found that the
majority of them had been nearly mature when captured.

“On putting out to sea the captain of the ‘ Harriet’
decided to try the off-shore fishing grounds lying in line
with St. Bees Head and the north end of the Isle of Man,
whence most of the fish were being taken. The first
hauls were unproductive of spawning fish, and it was not
till midnight of the 11th March that we were successful
in our search. In this haul spawning Cod and Haddock
were found, the eggs were quite mature, and no difficulty
was found in ‘stripping’ the fish and afterwards fertilizing
them. After fertilization, the embryos were placed in
clean buckets filled with fresh sea-water, and everything
made ready for running into Piel Harbour at daylight.
Unfortunately, however, during the night a heavy sea
broke on board, carrying away the buckets from their
fastenings, and sweeping the contents overboard. In the
next haul mature Haddock were again found, the eggs of

31

which were again successfully fertilized, and this partially
replaced the lost lot, but it was noticed that this second set
were not quite so mature as the previous ones, and the eggs
did not run so freely from the parent fish. During the
succeeding haul the entire net was carried away, and
there being no spare one on board, we had, therefore, to
return to Piel with only a small quantity of fertilized eggs
as the result of two days’ fishing.

“The police boat was awaiting our arrival outside the
harbour, but the sea was too rough to board, so the
‘Harriet’ had to bring us inside. Once inside the
harbour, the embryos were conveyed ashore and trans-
ferred to the tanks without further loss of time, the dead
ones being first carefully removed. The embryos floated
quite freely upon the surface of the water, and develop-
ment followed its natural course, as could be seen by
frequently examining the embryos under the microscope.

“Probably owing to the eggs not being quite mature
when obtained, and to injuries received subsequent to
fertilization, a considerable daily mortality took place
amongst the embryos, and at the end of nearly 200
hours after fertilization, all had died and sunk to the
bottom of the tanks.

“ During the whole time that the embryos were under
observation, the temperature and specific gravity of the
water was taken daily. The temperature varied from
5°8° C. to 6° C., and the specific gravity from °23 to ‘24.
Although we were not fortunate in having the embryos
hatch out at this stage of the experiment, it was clearly
demonstrated that the specific gravity of the Piel water
was sufficiently high to keep the eggs afloat.

“At this point I had to return to Liverpool, but Mr.
Wright, chief bailiff, was left in charge of the place with
instructions to endeavour to obtain more fertilized eggs at

32

the first opportunity. In this he was successful, for on
boarding a trawler fishing on the off-shore grounds on
April 1st, mature Cod and Haddock were found, and the
eggs fertilized; these were conveyed to the tanks in the
manner already described, so that when I returned on
April 9th, the embryos had been in the tanks for eight
days, and development had proceeded so far that the
larval fishes were clearly visible through the egg mem-
branes. Considerable mortality had taken place amongst
the embryos, and that continued to the end.

“The embryos began to hatch out on the eleventh day
after fertilization, and the last of them hatched out the
following day. The larve gradually dwindled in number
from day to day till at the end of seven days only one
remained alive; the survivor was lost next day through
being carried away by the vessel accidentally overflowing.
Before my arrival the tanks had overflowed, the one into
the other, thus mixing the embryos so that it is difficult
to say now whether the larve of both Cod and Haddock
were hatched.

‘“This second experiment shows that it is possible to
hatch out the embryos in the tanks supplied with sea
water from the channel, and to keep the larve alive for
several days after hatching. Further experiments are
necessary in order to ascertain for how long a period the
larvee can be kept alive by feeding them with ‘ plankton’
collected in our tow-nets.

“For the greater part of the time that the hatching
experiment was in operation, the water was used just as
it was taken from the channel, and during all that period
the weather was very unsettled, the sea washing up the
mud and making the water, on some days, quite turbid;
the fine mud consequently got in amongst the embryos,
and, no doubt, had a bad effect upon them by adhering to

33

the outside of the egg membranes, and thus increasing
their specific gravity beyond the point capable of floating
in the water. On several occasions when the supposed
dead embryos were examined, it was found that they were
alive, and, on the removal of the coating of fine mud, the
embryos again floated freely on the surface of the water.

‘Towards the close of the hatching experiment, the
water was passed through an ordinary flannel] jelly bag
before being allowed to enter the tanks, and by this
means it was found possible to entirely remove the
suspended matter, the water passing into the various
vessels in a perfectly transparent condition; but, owing
to the lateness of the season, and the arrival of workmen
to make the necessary alterations for converting the pre-
mises into our present hatchery and laboratory, no further
hatching could be tried with the filtered water.

‘ Besides the fish hatching experiments now described,
other investigations were carried on as well, and these
included visits made from time to time to the various
shell-fish beds in the neighbourhood, for the purpose of
examining their condition and collecting samples for
working at in the laboratory and for testing the water in
the tanks. We had, therefore, many economic marine
animals living satisfactorily in the tanks during the two
months; these consisted of various kinds of fishes, includ-
ing small Soles, Plaice, and Dabs ; shell-fish, including
Mussels and Cockles, and also a couple of Oysters found
living in the vicinity ; Crustacea, including Shrimps,
Lobsters, and Crabs, and other invertebrates which,
although not directly valuable, are yet indirectly so, from
the part they play as the food of other marine animals.
Many of the Shrimps were egg-bearing females, and the
more mature ones were taken from amongst the others
and kept in separate vessels; so on seyeral occasions we

34

had batches of newly hatched Shrimps in our glass jars,
which were kept alive until the temporary laboratory had
to be dismantled. One of the Shrimps on completion of
the hatching out of the larve, cast its shell; both the
shell and the animal were preserved, and are now in the
Fisheries Collection at Liverpool.

“‘ Karly in February the bailiffs noticed that the rough
ground between tide marks eastwards from Foulney was
covered with young Mussels, and after my arrival I
visited the various places pointed out, and found that
everything was covered with the young shell-fish, the
sizes of which varied from one-sixteenth of an inch to
one-quarter of an inch. Whether these young Mussels
are the result of the previous summer’s spawning or not
is at present difficult to say, as the rate of growth of this
shell-fish depends a great deal upon its surroundings,
food supply, &c., matters which can only be found out
after lengthened investigation of any particular bed.
Although numerous samples collected from the different
Mussel beds in the neighbourhood were examined, no
spawning shell-fish were found. The Cockle beds were
also examined for spawning Cockles, but none could be
discovered.

‘““Now that the Piel Marine Laboratory is completed
and in working order, a close examination of the various
shell-fish beds in the neighbourhood will be kept up
throughout the year: (1) by weekly examinations of the
shell-fish themselves for approaching maturity and time
of spawning, and (2) by frequent tow-nettings in the
vicinity of the beds for the free swimming larve.

“During the spring tides of March Mr. Richardson,
one of the bailiffs, secured a ‘berried’ Lobster, which
had been taken on the scar referred to in last year’s
Report, and brought it to the laboratory, where it was

35

placed in a tank and remained alive till after the place
was dismantled. When the workmen arrived the tank
containing the Lobster was transferred to the boat-house,
formerly used by the Customs officials and now by
the bailiffs as a storeroom and workshop. Later on in
the spring another ‘berried’ Lobster was found by Mr.
Wright, and placed in a second tank alongside the other.
The Lobsters remained alive till well on in the summer,
when one accidentally died, and the other was then placed
in our wooden ‘ Lobster tank’ on the shore. On being
examined there from time to time, it was found that the
‘berries’ were gradually disappearing from the swim-
merets, and eventually they had all gone. Probably the
embryos hatched out and passed away into the open
channel. With the better accommodation we now have,
and the more suitable appliances in our new tank-room,
it is expected that successful hatching of Lobsters will
fall to be recorded in due course. It is so far satisfactory
to find berried Lobsters in our own immediate neighbour-
hood, and the frequent occurrence of young ones, ranging
from four inches upwards, points out the probable close
proximity of a small Lobster rearing ground somewhere
in the channel, which future investigations may yet bring
to light. The Lobster tank on the shore still continues
to prove satisfactory, notwithstanding frequent silting up,
and several of the Lobsters have cast their shells during
the past year.

“The Mussel Bouchot so far has not fulfilled our
expectations, and this is probably due in large measure to
the strong tides which sweep over the ground in its neigh-
bourhood, so that very few of the original Mussels now
remain upon it. In the spring of the past year a consider-
able number of young Mussels were observed amongst the
material composing the Bouchot, and on several occasions

36

pieces of old stakes thickly covered with Mussels, of all
sizes, were removed from the scars and fixed in the struc-
ture, but in a very short time all had disappeared. A
further trial will, however, be given it during the present
year, and, as soon as possible, it is intended to re-stock it.”

NoTES ON THE SHAD.
(By Mr. R. L. Ascrort.)

Tuts fish, whose scientific name is ‘‘Clupea alosa,”’
belongs (as that appelation imports) to the Herring tribe.
It is found in the Mediterranean and along the Atlantic
and North Sea coasts of Europe, as far as Jutland. In
this country it is plentiful in the Severn, and I have
taken several on the Lancashire coast in a mackerel baulk
at Formby. The Shad must have been numerous on the
Lancashire coast, for in a lease of lands lying between the
Ribble and the Mersey, one of the conditions of the lease
was that one thousand Shad be delivered to the lessor by
the lessee during the Shad season (Sceadda dagen), and,
at the present time, all bright, silvery small fish caught in
the Shrimp nets in the Lancashire district are called Shad
by the fishermen.

Like the Herring, it is a migratory fish, but it continues
its migration up the rivers for a short distance above the
tidal waters to spawn. It enters the rivers in Holland
from the middle of March to the middle of June, and
proceeds up the rivers. In the Severn it is rarely seen
above Worcester. The eggs, which are heavier than
water, are laid by the female when in company of a male.
The pair swim at night at or near the surface of the

——

37

water, and make a great noise (termed by the fishermen
in the Potomac ‘‘ washing”). The eggs sink to the
bottom and are not adherent. The average number of
eges in an ovary is about 25,000, in some instances
reaching 60,000. The diameter of the egg when laid is
15 mm., and it has the peculiarity that it rapidly absorbs
water, reaching a diameter of 4°25 to 460 mm. In
three to six days the young larve appear, having a length
of 4:25 mm. They are provided with a yolksac of a
diameter of 16 mm. Unlike the young salmon, although
carrying as large a burden, they are, as soon as hatched,
quick, active little fish.

The larvee, after leaving the egg, grow very rapidly,
arriving in September at a length of 100 mm., or four
inches. They then proceed to the sea, and nothing is
known of them after that until their return to spawn.
When entering the rivers from March to June inclusive,
they have arrived at lengths of from 57 cm. to 62°5
cm., average 60 cm., and weigh from 2°3 to 30 kilos.

In Germany and Holland a belief exists among the
fishermen that the Shad are attracted by musical sounds,
and they attach to their nets a number of small bells
(klokijes) to attract the fish. [The above account is taken
principally from the ‘‘ Mededeelingen over Visscherj,”’
for the months of April, May, and June, in which is an
article by Dr. P. P. C. Hoek, Scientific Adviser in Fisheries
to the Dutch government, entitled ‘‘De elft op onze
rivieren,’ ‘“‘ The Shad up our rivers.”’]

It is most desirable to increase the Shad in our waters.
There are ways in which it can be done. We might get
live fish from the Severn, keep them until ripe, then strip
them and hatch the eggs. Ido not doubt but that mpe
fish might be stripped at Cologne (Koln) on the Rhine,

38

and the eggs be sent over. Or the attempt might be
made to obtain eggs or fry from Washington, D.C., of the
American Shad (Clupea sapidissima). There have been
very successful plantings of the fry of this Shad in the
Pacific, and they are now spread over a line of coast 3,000
miles long.—RoBert Lamp ASCROFT.

NOTE.—The Appendix which follows was printed in
October, 1897, as a Guide to our Fisheries
Exhibition. The Catalogue of the permanent
Fisheries Collection in University College,
Liverpool, was printed as an Appendix to the
last of these Annual Reports.

39

APPENDIX.

GUIDE, TO. THE

FISHERIES EXHIBITION,

Open during November and December, in the

ZOOLOGICAL MUSEUM

AT
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LIVERPOOL,
Arranged to illustrate the

FISHING INDUSTRIES anp THE
APPLICATION oF SCIENCE to AQUICULTUREH.

Tur Exhibition is in three Rooms—the Matn Hatt of
the Museum, the FISHERIES Room, and the GALLERY.

The Matin Hawt contains, in the centre of the floor,
the three cases which were prepared for the London
Jubilee Exhibition, and which are described fully below ;
while round the walls are those parts of the College
Zoological Collection which have a bearing on fisheries.

In some of the wall cases and on tables are samples of
nets and models of fishing implements.

The GALLERY round the Main Hall contains the col-
lections of Marine Lower Animals from Liverpool Bay
and the neighbouring parts of the Irish Sea. These form,
directly or indirectly, the food supply of our fishes.

40

The FisHEertes Room (Ground Floor) contains the
permanent collection illustrating various branches of
Aquiculture, and the Scientific Investigation of the
Fisheries. A detailed catalogue of this Collection is
printed separately.

MAIN HALL.

The Cases round the wall contain Back-boned Animals,
arranged in Zoological order, commencing with FIsHES
to the left of the door and passing on to Amphibia, Rep-
tiles, Birds and Mammals. Some of the land animals
have been removed to give greater prominence to the
marine forms. A group of the skeletons of Marine Animals
(Whales and Seals) will be found on one of the tables, to
the left of the door.

In the centre of the floor are three museum cases
arranged to illustrate the varied work undertaken by the
Lancashire Sea-Fisheries Committee. This Committee
consists of 64 members, 36 elected by the constituencies
and 28 appointed by the Board of Trade. The Chairman
is Mr. John Fell, J.P., Ulverston, the Deputy Chairman
Alderman E. Grindley, Liverpool, the Clerk Mr. H. C.
Hulton, J.P., and the Deputy Clerk Mr. J. P. Muspratt.
The Superintendent, Mr. R. A. Dawson, has under him
the captain and crew of the Fisheries steamer “John
Fell,” and others, forming a staff of 13 bailiffs. The
Honorary Director of the Scientific work, Professor
Herdman, has under him as Fisheries Assistant Mr.
Andrew Scott and as laboratory attendant Thomas
Mercer. The Fisheries Laboratory is in the Zoological
Department of University College, Liverpool, and the
Marine Station and Hatchery (not yet completed) is at
Piel, the most favourable position on the Lancashire coast
for the purpose.

41

CASE A contains specimens of fish, shell-fish, fish-food,
fish-spawn, etc., in illustration of some of the scientific
investigations made in the fisheries laboratory. The
exhibits in the case are :—

1. A series of the food fishes of our district, with the
more important food matters of each, according
to the observations in our laboratory. The fishes
are arranged on the lowest shelf, on one side of
the case, and their foods on the shelf above.
The series 1s as follows :—

Fish. Food.
Gurnard ... ... Crustacea.
Cod att ... Crustacea.
Haddock ... ... Mollusca and Echinoderms.
Whiting ... saa bashes:
Pinice™ «... ... Mollusca and Annelids.
Lemon Sole ... Annelids.
Dab fa ... Annelids, Mollusca, etc.
Flounder ... .... Annelids, Mollusca, etc.
Sole as ... Annelids.
Skate art ... Crustacea, etc.

2. A series of useful and useless fishes which compete
with one another by eating the same food. Three
pairs of such fish have been chosen for exhibition,
and in each case the food has been placed between
the useful and useless (or rather, unmarketable)
fishes that eat it. The pairs are the Whiting
and the Angler fish, which both feed on smaller
fishes; the Cod and the Pogge, which both feed
on Crustacea; and the Sole and the Solenette,
which both feed on Annelids.

42

3. A series of fish parasites, both external, such as
Caligus, Lernea, Chondracanthus, Anchorella,
Pontobdella, and Saprolegnia (the Salmon disease
fungus) ; and internal parasites, such as Cestode
and Nematode worms.

4. A series of the ripe eggs of our chief food fishes.
The fishes chosen are as follows :—Sole, Plaice,
Witch, Scald fish, Lemon Sole, Dab, Haddock,
Gurnard, Cod, Anchovy, and Lumpsucker. With
the exception of the Lumpsucker, whose eggs
sink in the water, and are, consequently found
on the bottom or attached to sea-weeds, all these
fishes’ eggs are pelagic, or float at or near the
surface of the sea. The small size and trans-
parent appearance of most of them will be
noticed.

5. Specimens of the Sole (Solea vulgaris) and the
Solenette (S. lutea) at various stages of growth
to show the similarity and the distinction between
these two fishes. The only possibility of con-
fusion is between the adult Solenette, which never
erows larger than four or five inches in length,
and the young Sole of about that size (see the
specimens in the jars). Besides the occasional
black stripes which the Solenette has in its
dorsal and ventral fins (each sixth or seventh
ray being coloured a deep black), the more sandy
colour, the rougher appearance, and a difference
in the arrangement of the tags around the mouth,
there is also a considerable difference in the
scales, as is shown in the figures and description
appended to the exhibit.

43

6. Three food fishes of our district, the eggs of which
were hatched out in the tanks of the Marine
Biological Station at Port Erin in April, 1896,
with specimens of their eggs and embryos pre-
served at various ages—24 hours, 66 hours, 114
hours, and 168 hours. The three fishes are the
Grey Gurnard, the Lemon Sole, and_ the
“Witch.”

7. A series of the shell-fish of our district, showing
stages in life-history and growth, legal and
illegal sizes, injuries and repairs, pearl forma-
tion, and pearls.

8. Jars showing the Shrimp and its food. For the
other economic crustacea see the window case
in the Fisheries room.

9. Jars showing the Sole, ‘“ Flustra”’ ground, and
the food of the Sole.

10. Piece of wooden stake covered with young mussels
illustrating their mode of attachment on a
Bouchot.

11. Series of Food Matters from the Sea; leading
from Mud through Diatoms to Copepods, then

through other animals to Pagurus, which is the
food of the Cod.

Other scientific exhibits of a similar nature to those in
Case A will be found in the cases round the Fisheries
Room.

+4

CASE B contains printed matter, plates, photographs,
and drawings illustrating the publications, both adminis-
trative and scientific, of the Lancashire Sea-Fisheries
Committee, and other work bearing upon the fisheries of
the district.

One end of the case is occupied by the series of photo-
graphs taken recently by Mr. Andrew Scott to illustrate
Mr. Dawson’s lecture on the methods of fishing in Lan-
cashire. These show the appearance of the fleets and
the fishing boats, of different kinds, in different positions,
and also such peculiar methods of fishing as the cart
shrimp net, the power net, using the “‘jumbo”’ and the
‘“‘craam,” and “treading for cockles.”

The opposite end of the case contains a set of drawings
and water-colour sketches, made by Professor Herdman,
in illustration of his jot investigation with Professor
Boyce, on ‘‘oysters and disease.’”’ These show the
external appearance and the internal structure of various
kinds of oysters—natives, French, Dutch, and American,
in both healthy and unhealthy conditions. Some of the
drawings represent the minute structure as seen under
the microscope.

A further series of drawings, and a large number of
specimens, microscopic and otherwise, in illustration of
the oyster investigation, will be found in another case.

At this same end of Case B, below the drawings, are
exhibited some series of the microscopic slides which are
prepared in the laboratory in the course of the scientific
investigations. Some of them are thin sections of fishes
and other marine animals, others are scales, eggs, em-
bryos and various pieces of internal organs, prepared,
stained, and mounted for microscopic examination.

45

Of the two sides of this case, the one is occupied by
samples of the administrative literature, the other by
the scientific. The administrative includes the superin-
tendent’s quarterly reports, the statistics, the various
printed forms in use by the fishery officers, copies of the
bye-laws, etc.

The scientific papers include the annual reports from
the laboratory, syllabuses of courses of fishery lectures,
catalogue ot the sea-fisheries collection, papers on the
marine fauna and flora of the district, report on shell-fish
culture in France, and other papers; photographs and
plates illustrating investigations by Professor Herdman,
Mr. Scott, and others.

The upper part of this case is occupied, on both sides,
by selected samples of the different kinds of lantern
slides, photographs and diagrams, used at University
College, Liverpool, in illustration of fishery lectures.

CASE C illustrates the Administrative work of the
Committee, carried out by the Superintendent (Mr. R.
A. Dawson) and his Assistants.

The principal exhibits are :—

1. The Byxr-Laws of the Committee for the purpose
of regulating the fishing industries of the district.

2. Models of trawling nets of different kinds as used
in our district.

3. Models of shrimp trawls.
4, Model of Fleetwood prawn (‘‘red shrimp’’) trawl.

5. Model of improved form of shrimp net, designed
by Mr. R. A. Dawson, to minimise the destruction
of young food fish (see also description on card),

46

6. Patterns of the different sizes of mesh used in fish
trawl and shrimp nets. The meshes are measured
around the four sides. A ‘‘seven-inch-mesh ”’
therefore is one having each side of the square
13 in. from knot to knot. The size of fish-trawl
mesh (44 inch) in use in this district before the
institution of the Committee, and the size (7 inch)
now enforced by the Committee’s bye-laws are
shown, as well as the smaller sizes (both old and
new) used in shrimping and prawning, and the
5 in. and 6 in. mesh used specially for a fixed
period in each year for the capture of soles (by
deep sea trawlers on the off-shore grounds).

7. Two large glass vessels containing common food-
fishes of various sizes, illustrating the average
style of catch obtained by the nets in use before
and since the introduction of the Committee’s
bye-laws. Reprints on cards of statistics from
the Superintendent’s reports are placed alongside
and show the results of experimental hauls made
with the two sizes of mesh (4$ inch and 7 inch).
The four jars on the shelf above show the actual
kinds and sizes of the fish caught by the 7 in.
mesh, as mentioned in these statistics. The
three jars below show those caught by the 43 in.
mesh. The very large number of small sized
fish destroyed by the smaller mesh will be noticed
in these last jars.

8. Glass vessel showing an average sample of the
fish caught in a shrimp net in some parts of our
district. This illustrates the destruction to
young food-fish caused by the indiscriminate use
of shrimp nets in localities which serve as fish

ae
12.

14,

15.

16.

1.

18.

47

nurseries. Statistics of actual hauls are given on
the card alongside.

. Model of improved Otter trawl net boards, lately

invented and patented by Messrs. Richard Cowell
and R. W. Mason of Fleetwood.

. Model of shrimp hose-net, as used at Ince in

Lancashire.
Model of shrimp push-net used in this district.

Models of craams, jumbos, rakes, and other instru-
ments used for taking shell-fish (cockles and
mussels) in our district.

. Riddle (on one of the tables) to regulate the size of

cockles collected.

Complete set of the testing gauges for sizes of
meshes and of shell-fish, used by the fishery
officers in enforcing the bye-laws of the Com-
mittee.

Facsimiles of the complete set of standard gauges
as used in court in cases of prosecution.

Instruments used on board the fishery steamer
“John Fell’? for obtaining samples of water
and for ascertaining the temperature at any
required depth below the surface.

Set of Kiel hydrometers and thermometer used
in taking the physical observations at the time
of each experimental haul (in side case).

Badges, compass, and telescope as used by fishery
officers in execution of their duties.

48

On the tables and in the cases round the walls of this
room, and hanging from the roof, will be found the
remaining models and samples illustrating the Lancashire

fishing industries and the administration of the Com-
mittee’s bye-laws. They are as follows :—

19

20.
at.
22.

23.

24.

25.

26.
ai.
28.
2
28.
29.
30.
alle
32.

Model of the s.s. ‘‘ John Fell,’ the Lancashire
Sea-Fisheries Committee’s steamer.

Model of the police sailing cutter.

Model of Fleetwood steam trawler ‘‘ Bassein.”’

Model of Liverpool steam trawler, exhibited by
R. Harley, Esq.

Model of full-rigged second class fishing boat
“Arrow,” of Fleetwood, with fish trawl.

Models of other fishing boats, etc., exhibited by
Messrs. John Gibson and Sons, Fleetwood.

Model of a fish trawl net, arranged to show the
different sizes and quantities of fish captured
with large and small meshes respectively, as
used in the investigations made by the Lan-
cashire Sea-Fisheries Committee.

Model of sand baulk-stake net for taking flat fish.
Models of two fish trawls.

Mussel rake, as used in this district.

Full-sized river boat’s fish trawl net (on roof).
Lines and tees for taking sea-fish (in side case).
Samples of illegal nets (in side case).

Tow-net for catching surface life.

Reversing deep-sea thermometer.

Naturalists’ dredges, trawls and other nets,

49
33. Exhibited by the Anglo-American Rope and
Oakum Co. :—
(1) Model of trammel net.
(2) Pollock, cod, mackerel and whiting lines.
(3

(4) Specimens of twines used in manufacture of
different nets.

~—

Sinkers for drift and seine nets.

——_

(5) Samples of various hooks used for capturing
sea-fish ; flies used in trawling for mackerel ;
tripod hooks for trawling; swivels used in
long lines.

(6) Samples of fishing lines used in district.

(7

(8) Cast net used for scientific purposes.

a

Bow net for taking shrimps.

(9) Prawn trap.

(10) Ground part of shrimp trawl neck and back of
sale.

34. Shrimp push net used in the district.

Also, round the walls and on tables will be seen :—

Maps of the district.

Tabular forms for use in the scientific work and by
the bailiffs.

Photographs of biological stations and fish hatcheries
(Tarbert, Dunbar, and Port Erin).

Photograph of improved trawling apparatus invented
and patented by Mr. J. H. Maclure, of Hull.

Model of Dutch oyster farm, on the Schelde (see
specimens illustrating Dutch oyster culture in
Fisheries Room—H).

50

Model showing French Bouchot system of mussel]
culture, in the Bay of Aiguillon.

Model of the floor of the Irish Sea.

Samples of fishery reports, monographs, and plates
from other countries (in side case).

Plan of the courses taken by drift bottles set free to
determine the currents, specimen of drift bottle,
and samples of the records returned.

On one of the tables will be found a series of micro-
scopes showing fish eggs, and embryos, young stages of
shrimps, crabs, etc., the minute structure of parts of
fishes, and the microscopic food of fish and shell-fish.

Tow-nets, travelling microscope, and other appliances for
collecting surface life of the ocean from vessels steaming
at full speed, are laid out on a table in the Fisheries
Room.

Alongside is Prof. Herdman’s folding Deck-table fitted
up with microscope, dissecting dishes, note-books, &c.,
for biological work at sea

51
FISHERIES ROOM.

(On Ground Floor, to South of Main Hall.)

The specimens in this room exhibit :—

A.

B.

M.

N.

S.

The Series of Fishes of the district—whether
edible or not.

Series showing the Reproductive Organs, the
Spawn, and the young stages in the development
and life-history of Fishes from the Egg onwards.

Series of Foods of various Fishes, both young
and old.

Series of Fish Parasites—internal and external.
Other Enemies of Fishes.

Collection showing Diseases or abnormal condi-
tions of Fishes.

Collection of Edible Shell-fish of our district.
Collection illustrating Oyster culture in France,
Holland, and other countries.

Collection of Edible Crustacea.

Collection of the Sea-bottoms and other sub-
marine deposits.

Collection of Natural Baits used in the Fisheries.
Collection of Models of fishing implements, of

apparatus for fish culture and hatching, and of
shell-fish cultivation.

Series of Photographs and Lantern Slides illus-
trating the Lancashire Sea-Fisheries District.
Collection illustrating the Regulations of Sea-
Fisheries Committees and other Authorities.

(For further details see the separate Catalogue of the
permanent Fishery Collection. |

52

GALLERY.
(Stair from Vestibule.)

The collection of Local Marine Invertebrates, which
occupies the greater part of the wall cases round the
gallery, is largely the result of the work of the Liverpool
Marine Biology Committee. The series commences to
the left of the door with the Sponges, and continues round
the cases labelled Coelenterata, Echinodermata, Polyzoa,
Vermes, Crustacea, Mollusca, and Tunicata.

In the windows of the gallery are arranged a series of
lantern slides, prepared by the Rev. T. 8. Lea, from his
photographs of the sea-weeds and animals on the shore
round the south coast of the Isle of Man.

- In some of the desk cases round the rail of the gallery
will be found a collection of Sea-bottoms, ancient and
modern, both from shallow and deep water. These
include a series of the gravels, sands, muds, and organic
deposits found in the various parts of our own district.

Two of the desk cases, on the north side, show an
interesting series of the Microscopic Copepoda, and
enlarged representations of their structure, prepared by
I. C. Thompson, Esq.

QU ANN NUNN