The fol1owing pages comprise the first of a brief and, hopefully, annual account of research in progress on sea trout, a summary of results recently available and a short account of stocks of this fish during the preceding fishing season with a tentative prognosis for the coming year. The purpose of the report is to inform user groups, anglers and netsmen, about the work and to promote an interchange of information with interested parties; a primary objective is the identification of priority research objectives and hence the promotion of better management of fisheries in which sea trout are an important or the only quarry.