J3 



In the first place, we have figures showing the total 

 annual value of fish (wet and shell) landed at each port in the 

 Lancashire and Western Sea Fisheries district for 16 years, 

 and these figures show on the whole a steady increase. 



No conclusion as to the Irish Sea area as a whole can be 

 deduced from a study of these figures, since even if one 

 eliminates the steam trawler ports entirely — Fleetwood and 

 Liverpool — one eliminates a large quantity of fish caught in 

 the Irish Sea, not only by the steam trawlers themselves, 

 but also by the various sailing craft, which get their fish 

 almost entirely within the Irish Sea area. 



If one only had a reliable idea as to the quantity of what 

 I may call foreign fish — Bay of Biscay, South-West Ireland, 

 and Firth of Clyde fish — to deduct from these figures it would 

 give one some idea — probably accurate in an approximate 

 manner (and strive as we will our estimates must always be 

 approximations) — of the increase or decrease of the yield o£ 

 the Irish Sea fisheries, i^s pointed out above, this should not 

 be impossible in the future, though even then our estimate 

 would be based on the assumption that the Central Authority's 

 figures are accurate, for it is hardly necessary to point out 

 that to deduct an accurate total from an inaccurate one will 

 not give an accurate remainder. 



The question of accuracy is, of course, a vital one ; it is 

 hardly necessary to point out that inaccurate tables are worse 

 than none at all. The arrangement of the tables is quite a 

 minor point as compared with accuracy, and as will be seen 

 from the facts detailed below, when comparison is possible, 

 the results are scarcely satisfactory. 



For instance, the statistical tables and memorandum 

 relating to the Sea Fisheries of the United Kingdom for the 

 year 1890 (published by the Board of Trade, 4th March, 



