— 25 



D'ARCY W. THOMPSON 



The seasons of maximum abuiul.mcc of the ordinary Large Haddock resemble to 

 a great extent those of the class just described as Extra Large; but the period of com- 

 parative abundance is spread over a large part of the year, and a comparatively larger 

 stock of fish remains on the ground even in the season of scarcity. In the central areas 

 of the North Sea, over the Witch Ground and Gut, and in those eastward to the Fisher 

 Bank, the season of the Large Haddock lasts through the winter months, and it is only 

 when that season is about to close that we recognise the period of maximum of the 

 Extra Large sort. Li Shetland, on the other hand, the largest numbers of extra large 

 fish would seem, on the average, to be caught rather earlier in the season than the 

 normal maximnm of the "large". 



In the East Coast areas (XXIII, XXIX (fig. 31) we have very regular curves showing 

 an annual maximum in 



1903 I90d 1905 1906 



ä 



70 



60 



50 



40 



30 



20 



10 



7^ 



I 



II 



^ 



B 



early autumn, about Au- 

 gust, September, and Oc- 

 tober, the corresponding 

 season of greatest scarcity 

 being from February to 

 April. There is just enough 

 difference between the two 

 curves to indicate that the 

 season of maximum is by 

 a very little the later in 

 the more northern of the 

 two areas. As regards 

 annual fluctuations in 

 quantity, we see that 

 these are greater in the 

 case of area XXIII than 

 of area XXIX. In both 

 areas the autumn of 1906 

 gave a poor catch of Large 

 Haddock ; in area XXIX 

 1904 was a very good 

 year, but in XXIII there 

 is a slow trend of diminution since 1902. 



Turning next for a moment to the Line-fishing statistics from the Moray Firth, we 

 find that there the maximum catch of Large Haddock by the small line-boats occurs 

 regularly in the winter months, and the accompanying curves show us that the annual 

 maximum at Cromarty is about December — ^^fanuary, and at Banff a month or two later 



(fig- 32)- 



Of the areas further to the east, let us examine the curves for the Witch Ground 

 (XIX fig. 34) and the adjacent areas to the southward (XXIV fig. 33). In both cases we 

 find an annual winter maximum, usually from December to February, which agrees with 

 the results of the Line-fishery in the Moray Firth. Without multiplying illustrations, we 

 may say that the same winter maximum is characteristic of areas XVIII, XIX, XX, XXIV, 



4 



^:.:> 



I 



Fig. 30. E. Large Haddock. Area XIII. 



