Aberdeen Fishery Statistics. 11 
Sea. Within the North Sea itself, 5,017 voyages (about 44 per 
cent. of the whole, and about 53 per cent. of the North Sea voyages) 
were made to the East Coast grounds, in the near neighbourhood of 
Aberdeen itself: but these are short trips, made by the smaller class 
of vessels, and the total earnings were, accordingly, comparatively 
small. While these voyages contributed 44 per cent. of the total 
voyages undertaken by the fleet, their gross earnings amounted to 
19 per cent. of the whole. 
Looking at the figures of the same Table from month to month, 
there are to be seen clear indications of the seasons at which the 
various grounds are more or less frequented. _ It is evident, for 
instance, that the fishing at Faeroe and Iceland is most active from 
about March to June; that the Northern grounds are most resorted 
to from*January to May; and the grounds of the Middle North Sea 
from about August to January. The South-Hastern grounds are 
little fished by Aberdeen vessels except from September to 
November, and especially during the month of October. 
As a supplement to Table IV. I have added a Table (V.), which 
shows the percentage of voyages reported from the various grounds 
in the last eight years. 
It will be seen that about 40 per cent. of all the voyages reported 
from Aberdeen are short trips to the near grounds off our Hast 
Coast: and the number of voyages to these near grounds shows no 
signs of diminution, but rather of slight increase. ‘The proportion 
of voyages to the Northern or Shetland grounds is about one-fourth 
of the whole, and this proportion tended to increase till 1911, but 
showed a sudden and marked falling off in 1912. The total number 
of voyages to some part or other of the North Sea amounts to about 
84 per cent. of the whole, leaving only about 16 per cent. for the 
West Coast, Iceland and Faeroe, and other distant voyages. The 
proportion of voyages to the North Sea has kept remarkably steady, 
and if it is borne in mind that nearly all of the voyages reported 
under the heading of “‘ Mixed grounds * have spent part of their 
time in the North Sea, that steadiness becomes still more con- 
spicuous. ‘The Western grounds appear to be less in favour than 
was the case four or five years ago; on the other hand, there is 
apparent an increase in the voyages to Faeroe and Iceland, but 
these last include, of late years, a very large proportion of landings 
by German trawlers. 
Many interesting tables of a kind similar to Table IV. may be 
prepared, showing, for instance, the variation in average earnings 
from month to month of the vessels, the average number of days 
spent upon the voyage (Table VI.), or the variations in the average 
eatch of each particular fish. 
For instance, the following Table (Table VI.) shows that the 
i A.B BB Vor. 
Average Number of Days Spent on Voyage, 1912. 
Jan. | Feb, | Mar,} April] May rand July | Aug.}Sept.| Oct. | Noy.| Dec. | Mean. 
Northern Grounds | 7:0 | 6:8 | 6:9 6Op |: O:8ee 6251) GOo G22 a6 | Gel GsSuly 7504 [re 6-7 
East Coast Grounds | 2°5 | 2°5 | 2°6 | 2°8 | 2:9 | 2°9 | 2°8| 2:6] 2-4 | 2:4) 25] 251} 2-4 
Middle Grounds - | 577 | 5:6 | 46} 3°8| 3:7 | 38] 43 | 3:8] 41] 47] 54] 60] 47 
Western Grounds -| 7°9 | 7°8| 7:2 | 69] 66} 66| 66| 69] 75 | 7:7 | 78) 7:9| 7:3 
Faeroe and Iceland | 153 | 143 | 13-0 | 12°7 | 12:0 [112-1 |11°6 | 11-1 |10-6 | 11-2 | 13-2 | 15-0 | 12-7 
