APPENDIX J: SCOTLAND _ 114 _ 



25 to 30 "/o of the cod landed are cured, i. e., smoked or pickled. A considerable propor- 

 tion of the ling, tusk and saithe are also cured. 



The species included under "other fish" or "unclassified fish" are hake, gurnards, 

 bream, cat-fish, sillocks * etc. The hake is the most valuable of these species and is caught 

 in considerable quantities during some years. It is included with the cod and ling under 

 "cured fish", but is unfortunately not separately distinguished. 

 Flat Fish The quantity of turbot landed in Scotland is not great, comparatively speaking, but its 



high value makes it of considerable importance. The largest quantities are brought in by the 

 trawlers on the east coast; on the other hand, the small amount of turbot landed on the west 

 coast is brought in by liners. The average quantity of this fish landed has been somewhat 

 greater in recent than in earlier years, more particularly on the east coast. The same 

 may be said of the halibut and lemon-sole, which come close together, both in quantity 

 and value. The increase in the catches of these fish is a sign of the extension of the 

 fishing into deeper waters, as will be mentioned more particularly in dealing with the 

 following species. Whilst the lemon-sole landed is brought in entirely by the trawlers of 

 the east cost, the halibut is chiefly the property of the liners and a considerable amount 

 is lauded in the western isles. It is probable, indeed, that much of the turbot and halibut 

 recorded for the east is really obtained on the west coast. 



The mode of recording the remaining flat-fish (excluding skate) forms the "Achilles" 

 heel of the Scottish statistics. Within one column are included flounder, plaice, brill, 

 witches, megrims, dabs and probably long-rough dabs. In earlier years, this did not matter 

 much, as megrims and witches were then of little account on the markets, and the other 

 species negligible in comparison with the plaice. During the years following 1896, how- 

 ever, the otter-trawl revolutionised the trawling industry and the fishing-grounds became 

 rapidly enlarged from within 50 fathoms to the 100 fathom line. The changes produced 

 thereby and the consequent fluctuations in the statistics for the past 6 years, have been 

 described in detail by Wemyss Fulton in the XX* Report (Part III, p. 80 et seq.). 

 Quantities of Without entering too deeply into these details, the matter may be illustrated by 



on threasTcolst showing the difficulty of obtaining an account of the quantities of plaice landed in Scotland, 

 of Scotland The spocics mentioned as included with the plaice in the statistics, are taken both on 



the west and east coasts of Scotland. So far as the west coast and Orkney and Shetland are 

 concerned there is but little difficulty. The quantities are relatively small and the greater 

 proportion is obtained by lines. It is probable, therefore, that only the dab, in addition to 

 the plaice, is taken in any appreciable quantity, and judging from the proportion of dabs 

 landed at Aberdeen on the east coast — to be presently mentioned — 90 % of the total 

 quantity landed would be plaice. A similar proportion would apply also to the fish landed 

 by the liners on the east coast. There would be no great error in these approximate 

 results. 



The greater quantity of plaice etc. is landed, however, by the trawlers of the east 

 coast. Previous to 1896, this amounted to ca. 60"/o of the total quantities of these species 

 landed in all Scotland, since that year, it has mounted to between 75 and 80 "/o, and this 

 relative increase has been due to an increase landed by trawlers, not decrease by the liners. 



' "Sillocks" is given by Day (British Pishes p. 294) as a local name for the saithe, G. virens. As the 

 returns for this fish are presumably given separately under saithe, perhaps "sillocks" refer to the pollack, 

 G. pollachius. 



