17 



The Board of Trade Returns for Pwllheli for 1900 give 

 figures for cod, hake, and ling as follows : — 





Pwllheli, 



1900. 





Cod. 



Hake. 



January 



47 



12 



February 



56 



17 



March 



68 



21 



April 



69 



21 



May 



87 



27 



June 



86 



35 



July 



84 



77 



August 



90 



37 



September ... 



74 



28 



October 



75 



31 



November ... 



96 



34 



December ... 



44 



19 



Ling. 

 10 

 10 

 14 

 14 

 20 

 20 

 26 

 22 

 14 

 20 

 24 

 12 



These kind of fish were worth exactly £1 per cwt. during 

 the whole year. 



On referring to the figures for 1904, we find no hake, no 

 ling, and but 3 cwt. of cod, value £6, were landed at Pwllheli. 



Can this be a truly remarkable example of over fishing, or 

 can it be that the railway rates have caused the trawlers to 

 land their fish elsewhere, or can it be — I hesitate to suggest 

 the alternative — that the hake, cod, and ling of 1900 existed 

 only in the Board of Trade collector's imagination ? 



Perhaps some light may be thrown on the subject by 

 tracing the progress of this phenomenal diminution. Was the 

 falling off gradual or sudden, and, if sudden, did it coincide 

 with the appointment of a new Board of Trade collector at 

 Pwllheli ? 



