THE HADDOCK PKOBLEM 



81 



were extended over a longer series of seasons which might be 

 more properly regarded as a ' cycle '. 



Fluctuatiofis in Haddock Landings from the Main Steam 

 Trawler Grounds 



In the North Sea the largest catches, generally speaking, occur in July, August, 

 September, November, and December. The percentage of small fish landed 

 was always heavy, but has fallen from 51*09 in 1906 to 43*14 in 1913. The 

 older haddocks appear to be near the coast from October to March, and away 

 from the coast in spring and summer. 



In Iceland April and May always produce the heaviest catches (as in the 

 case of cod). The number of small haddocks landed is practically negligible. 



In Faeroe the catch is at its height generally in July and August, but in 

 some years the harvest begins in June and in others extends into October, 

 Very few small haddock are landed. 



West of Scotland, March or April (or both) are always good months, as are 

 sometimes October and November. But the fluctuations are intense, and are 

 obviously influenced greatly by causes other than the trawl. In 1908 and 

 1909, for instance, large catches were made in every month in the year. The 

 small fish landed were 54-80 per cent, in 1906 and 63-16 per cent, in 1913. 



The Cause of the ' Decline ' 



In 1913 the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries in its annual 

 report (it had just pubhshed Mr. Eussell's monumental report 

 on his Market Measurements, 1909-11) noted this 'marked 

 decHne ', and added ' the question of further investigations of this 

 fish will have to be seriously considered '. In the same year the 

 Fishery Board for Scotland, in discussing the figures, wrote 

 that they were probably ' due to one of those fluctuations 

 which are inseparable from the sea fisheries, and not to the 

 impoverishment of the stock. This view is based on the fact 

 that similar periods of depression have occurred before, as, 

 for example, between 1895 and 1903 '. In 1895, apparently, 



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