138 



All the above figures, according to the explanation given by the officials who 

 publiyh the statistics, refer to the fish as landed ; the prices are the " wholesale values 

 at the places of landing," by which I believe is meant the prices actually paid to the 

 auctioneers who sell the fish for the fishermen and smackowners. The classification 

 is made according to the way in which the fish are packed when brought ashore. 

 The best and the largest quantity of the soles and turbots are placed in boxes by 

 themselves not mixed with any other fish, while if there are not suflicient soles or 

 turbots in a catcli to make it worth while to pack them separately they are put 

 together with other kinds of " best " or " prime " fish. Therefore the figures under 

 tlie heading " soles " do not rei^resent the total quantity of soles landed. There are tons 

 of soles and turbot included under the heading of " prime fish not separated." Now, 

 if we look at the figures referring to soles only, we find that in the three years 1886, 

 1887, 1888, there was an annual decrease of 13,000 cwt., a very startling result. But 

 in 1889 there was an increase of nearly 2,000 over 1888. 15ut this latter increase 

 is much more than balanced by the enormous decrease in the quantity of miscellaneous 

 prime fi.sh in 1889, a decrease of 77,433 cwt. In no year was the decrease in 

 the quantity of separated soles balanced by an increase in the quantity of mis- 

 cellaneous prime fish ; on the contrary, there was a steady decrease in the latter 

 in 1887, 1888, and 1889. The figure of this item in 1886 must be kept apart, for 

 in five months of that year haddock were included under it at Billingsgate when 

 packed with prime fish, while since then haddock have been estimated separately. 

 This alteration also affects the totals of prime fish; but neglecting 1886 there was a 

 great annual decrease in the total quantity of prime fish landed. There is no doubt 

 therefore on the whole that since statistics have been kept, since the year 1886, there 

 has been a steady decrease in the (jnantity of soles landed on the coast of England 

 and Wales. I think it is very probable that the slight increase in the quantity of soles 

 landed separately in 1889 is due to the fact that in the eai'lier half of this year a large 

 number of North Sea trawling smacks left their own grounds and went to work off the 

 north coast of Cornwall, on a trawling ground which had previously been almost 

 entirely neglected, and on which soles were found in great abundance. This ground 

 was first tried bj' some Brixliam trawlers in 1887. 



Another .sure indication of the increasing scarcity of soles is the steady rise in price. 

 Tlie price of soles sold separately has risen 45. to 13s. per cwt. every year. Tlie 

 price of turbot has not increased so steadily, though there is indication of increasing 

 scarcity of this fish also. The price of mixed prime fi.sh is somewhat irregular : that 

 of the year 188() is of no value to our iiuiuiiy for the reason Ijefoie nu-ntioned, and 

 the prices in other years may and probably do vary with the jiroportion of soles in (lie 

 boxes. The average price of prime fish taken altogether has increased steadily. In 

 1889 it was 18s. 3c/. per cwt. greater than in 1888. The Board of Trade tables give 

 the average price of soles per lb. for each year, and it is interesting to compare the.se 

 with the prices for the ten years 1856 to 1865. In the report of tlie Sea Fisheries 



