14 



120 



100 



60 



40 



2Û 



^\ 



\ 





In area C, which includes principally the now important fishing grounds of Rona 

 and Sole Skerry (the northern parts of the area being little fished), the maximum for 

 Cod (fig. 1 8) is well-marked in January, while for Codhng there is a double maximum, 

 the larger about January or February, and a smaller in June or July. 



In area D, including Cape Wrath and the Minch, our statistics are not very copious, 

 but they are sufficient to show a maximum for Cod about March, and for Codling a 

 double maximum about January and July. Further to the westward, off" the Butt of 

 Lewis, we have again some evidence of a maximum of Cod about February. 



We have not yet mentioned area XVII, which includes, somewhat inconveniently, 

 both sides of the Pentland Firth, and where the conditions are therefore far from uniform'. 

 The curve for this area shows us in the case of Cod (fig. 19) a maximum in summer- 

 time for each of the 

 1903 1904- 1905 1006 ^hj.gg yg3j.3^ J ^04 to 



1906; but while this 

 maximum is of short 

 duration culminating 

 in May in 1904, it 

 extends more or less 

 from early spring to 

 July in the other two 

 years, and there is 

 some evidence that 

 here, as in area XIII, 

 we have two separate 

 maxima to deal with. 

 There is a double maxi- 

 mum here also in the 

 case of Codling (fig. 20), 

 namely in November 

 — December, and in 

 July. 



Returning to the North Sea, we have for area XXV, which includes the north- 

 western part of the Great Fisher Bank, a satisfactory curve clearly showing an annual 

 maximum of Cod about March (fig. 21), while Codling appear to be most abundant there 

 in late autumn and early winter. A great shoal of Codling give rise to a high maximum 

 in the curve about December and January 1903 — 04. 



I When we find, as we do here and frequently elsewhere, that the curves drawn from the statistics 

 for certain areas are confused and carry no clear meaning, while those from other areas are simple and 

 regular, this difference may sometimes be due to the fact that our statistics from the former region are 

 scanty and interrupted. But the commoner and more important reason seems to be that certain areas are 

 comparatively uniform, while others contain within themselves diverse conditions; in other words, the 

 areas are necessarily artificial, and are chosen without reference to the habits of this or that particular fish. 

 It would in all probabilit}' be found possible, did time permit, to throw much more light upon the pheno- 

 mena within these troublesome areas by sifting out the original statistics, and dealing separately with 

 separate parts of the area. It is at the same time clear that there must always be intermediate areas, which 

 show as it were an overlapping of phenomena when these happen to be markedly different in the areas 

 on either side. 



-« = 



^ 



ïi^ï^ 



î-5=!f 



-^^ 



Fig. 17. Codling. Area XIII. 



