(/ the Fishery Board for Scotland. 151 



in the second period the total was 126,193 cwts., the average being 9707 

 cwts. There was thus a decrease of 82,407 cwts., or about 39 per cent. 

 The total landed on the "West Coast in the twenty-six years was only 

 1735 cwts. 



The total value for Scotland in the period was .£43,467, of which the 

 value on the East Coast amounted to £43,250. In the first thirteen years 

 the average value was £2062, and in the last thirteen years £1282, 

 showing a decrease of about 38 per cent. 



The price of clams has kept up very well. The values in shillings per 

 cwt., in the quinquennial periods above stated, were, on the East Coast, 

 respectively 2-8, 2-1, 2-6, 2-6, and 2-8. 



The greatest quantities were landed between 1888 and 1897; the 

 smallest in 1902 and 1908. Since then the quantity has rather increased. 



Lobsters. 



This crustacean constitutes the most valuable item among the shell-fish 

 fisheries of Scotland, and it difiers from those molluscs which have been 

 referred to above — oysters, clams, and mussels — inasmuch as the quantity 

 and value have steadily increased. The aggregate number of lobsters 

 landed on the coasts of Scotland in the twenty-six years, 1883-1908, 

 amounted to 18,769,150, giving an annual average number of 721,890. In 

 the first half of the period, 1883-1895, the total number was 9,239,689, 

 the annual average being 710,745 ; in the second period the number was 

 9,529,461, and the average per annum 733,036, showing an increase of 3*1 

 per cent. 



The aggregate on the East Coast was 2,689,496, the average being 

 103,442 per annum for the whole period. In the years 1883-1895 the 

 number was 1,409,222, and the average 108,402, while in the second period 

 the number was 1,280,274, and the annual average 98,483 lobsters. There 

 was thus a decrease on the East Coast in the second period to the extent 

 of 9 per cent, in the numbers landed. 



There was, on the other hand, a notable increase in the lobster fishery of 

 the Orkney and Shetland group. The aggregate number taken in the twenty- 

 six years was 2,835,949 — greater, therefore, than on the whole of the East 

 Coast — and the average number per annum was 109,075. In the first 

 period the number was 1,175,150, and the average 90,396, whereas in the 

 second period the number was 1,660,799, and the annual average 127,754, 

 There thus occurred an increase to the extent of over 41 per cent, in the 

 number of lobsters landed. 



On the West Coast, where nearly three-fourths of the lobsters ai'e taken, 

 the aggregate for the whole period amounted to 13,243,705 lobsters, 

 giving an annual average of 509,373. In the first period the number was 

 6,655,317, and the average per annum 511,947 ; in the second period the 

 number was 6,588,388, and the average 506,799. There was thus a 

 decrease of about 1 per cent, in the number of lobsters landed on the 

 West Coast in the second period as compared with the first. The highest 

 numbers, amounting in one year — 1885 — to 774,000, were taken in the 

 earlier years, but the period from 1896 to 1902 was also characterised by 

 laige catches. 



The proportions in which the lobsters were landed on the various coasts 

 in the two periods are shown in the following table : — 



1883-1895. 1896-1908. 



East Coast 15-2 per cent. 14-3 per cent. 



Orkney and Shetland . . 12-7 „ 15-1 



West Coast 72-0 „ 70-6 



One of the chief features is the development of the fishing for lobsters 



