90 CAPTURES BY LINERS AND TRAWLERS, 1896. 



25,322 cwts. and £4,251, and saithe (coal fish) of 2,953 cwts. and 

 £228, the other round fishes varied. Thus whereas in the liners 

 a great deficit occurred in ling, the trawlers had 2,758 cwts. 

 and £507 more than in 1895. Haddocks, however, had fallen 

 behind 1895 by 18,279 cwts. and £67. Whitings were barely 

 on a par with the previous year, but congers maintained their 

 position. Such variations are inseparable from sea-fishing, and 

 show how necessary it is to be cautious in drawing deductions 

 either from statistics or the statements of those interested. 

 Some of these variations have great antiquity, and are even 

 indicated by the seasonal pursuits of the fisherman, who when 

 the haddock fishing becomes less tempting in June takes to the 

 herring fishing in distant waters, and the successful financial 

 result as well as the healthy variety of occupation cannot but 

 have an important influence on his happiness and prosperity. 

 Plaice-trawling or fishing in late autumn, on return from the 

 herring fishing, is another example. Others are the result of 

 chance, and are exemplified in the casual capture of cod in a 

 stake-net, while the liners see little of them, by the loading of 

 one boat's lines while another has few haddocks, by a sea 

 swarming with whitings, haddocks or herrings, w^hile for a long 

 period all three may be comparatively scarce. 



In flat fishes the liners also held a better position than in 

 1895, the total being 113,103 cwts. and £67,034, or an excess of 

 2,093 cwts. and £7,267, the latter disproportionate increase in 

 value being due to higher prices. This increase was made up of 

 143 cwts. and £223 for turbot, and 4,171 cwts. and £5,885 for 

 halibut. Lemon-dabs remained nearly stationary, while there 

 was a loss by weight of 2,813 cwts. and an increase of £52 in 

 flounders, plaice and brill. Skate maintained the position of 1895 

 by having 598 cwts. and £1,114 over that year. Other kinds of 

 white fishes had an increase of 1,210 cwts., but a diminution of 

 £258 in value. The great increase in value of last year's flat 

 fishes must be borne in mind when considering the further 

 increment this year. Altogether the results are satisfactory. 



The trawlers obtained 90,652 cwts. of flat fishes = £124,495, 

 an increase of 10,817 cwts. and £11,746, thus maintaining steady 

 progress. The important turbot showed 1,683 cwts. and £2,922 



