8 Fishery Board for Scotland, 
Table covers is not very long, and, moreover, it is obvious that if 
(as may be) the average length of voyage has tended to alter, even a 
little, that would help, or might even suffice, to explain the apparent 
diminution in the yield. And this apparent diminution, such as it 
is, is not nearly so great as, a few years ago, we were told by many to 
anticipate. It lends no support to allegations of wholesale deple- 
tion of the general stock of fish, but at the same time it does furnish 
such evidence as prevents us from accepting the optimistic view, 
according to which no evidence of diminution has been yet demon- 
strated, or indicated, by the Board’s statistics at all. 
But as has been shown lately in another Report,* a different, and 
more truthful idea of the state of the case is got when the various 
kinds of fish are dealt with separately. 
In the following Table there is shown the average catch of certain 
fishes on the Northern and Kast Coast grounds from 1905 to 1912: 
TABLE III. 
Average Catch of Certain Fish in ewts. per Voyage, 1905-12. 
Northern Grounds. 
| 1905 | 1906 1907 1908 | 1909 1910 1911 1912 
Cod - - - = = eel feif 17-2 17°6 17°4 19-1 24:5 26°7 27°9 
Codling - = = -| 14:2 12°6 11:2 21°6 30'1 30°3 318 30°8 
| Ling - - - - ~ 94:8} 129 14:0 126 12:9 111 alts 12°3 
Large & Ex.-Lge. Haddock | 43:0 46:0 45°3 39°6 40°4 36:2 36°9 34°2 
Medium Haddock - SPB 18°7 20°5 20°9 20:2 14:2 16°7 159 
Small & Ex.-Sm. Haddock 34°4 341 44:5 48:3 | 38:4 22°8 26-2 29:2 
Turbot~ - - - - "16 | CIA ey Salts) “21 | ‘25 13 16 ‘13 
Large Lemons - - ‘74 “88 93 80 | wl 85 “94 “61 
Small __,, : : 07 19 “27 40 | "85 “97 “69 “44 
Large Plaice “69 ‘73 “56 “24 | ail 04 .03 03 
Medium ,, 2:47 2:00 1°81 TTP 5 alos} ‘73 “64 72 
Small _,, 16 ‘13 18 15 ‘16 ‘06 “03 ‘10 
Total - 229°4 | 200°3 | 210°2 | 211-7 | 2068 | 198:3) || 202a siaazan 
Hast Coast Grounds 
Cod - - - - 9:4 i) 98 6'9 HS) 69 4'7 55 76 
Codling - - - AS rae 4°5 5b 74 73 78 6°6 
Ling - - - - - 2°0 1s 16 1°8 19 19 12 U7 
Large & Ex.-Lge. Haddock 64 43 57 55 4°5 3°7 2°6 2°8 
| Medium Haddock — - - 41 Bie 6:9 54 4'2 2°6 32 35 
| Smal] & Ex.-Sm. Haddock 15:6) 9s0)ss) ee Gall 18:2 14:2 [ols a BRI 16°5 
Turbot - - - | “40 "42 “45 “43 “34 “24 | 19 “18 
| Large Lemons - 2'5 Ole = SGU 2°8 25 PAGE lbp 15.) 1:9 
Small Lemons “55 66 | ‘81 1:0 9 123 ale D5 
Large Plaice | ‘14 09 07 ‘07 07 ‘06 04 “04 
Medium _,, Hig Sais. 1°80 ‘91 1:19 1°13 1:24) = 110 1:16 
| Small ai 17 “15 | ah ‘28 123 “49 67 “64 
|e pee ok ae | 3 
OWA == 60°9 58:0 67°9 62-1 57°4 50°3 58°1 583 
and it is hereby seen, unmistakably, that the comparative steadi- 
ness of the total catch has been accompanied by very different con- 
ditions in the different constituent species. . 
The cod on the Northern grounds has shown an almost unbroken 
and of late rapid increase: on the East Coast grounds it has 
* Fifth Report (Northern Area) on Fishery Investigations, &c., 1913. p. ili. 
