of the Fishery Board for Scotland, li 



Port. 



Number Inspected. 



Number found Defective. 



Scottish. 



English. 



Foreign. 



Scottish. 



English. 



Foreign. 



Aberdeen . 



3,599 



180 



531 



518 



1 



4 



Leitli 



304 



22 





3 



1 





Montrose . 



106 



2 





6 







Total 



4,009 



204 



531 



527 



2 



4 



The measures adopted in the UDited Kingdom have resulted in a 

 substantial reduction in the number of cases of injury to cables, but 

 they could not be regarded as complete until similar steps had been 

 taken by other countries, and with this object in view H.M. Govern- 

 ment invited the States of Western Europe more particularly interested 

 both in trawling and submarine telegraphic communication to send 

 delegates to a preliminary conference for the purpose of an interchange 

 of opinions on the subject. This conference, at which Belgium, 

 Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Norway, Portugal, Spain, 

 Sweden, and the United Kingdom were represented, was held in June 

 last, and after deliberations which extended over five days, a series of 

 resolutions designed to effect the object for which the conference had 

 been held was formally passed. 



WHALING. 



There was a further decline in the catch of whales in Scottish 

 waters in 1913 which, although slight in actual numbers, was, relatively 

 to the number of ves«els employed, considerable, and as this decline 

 is in keeping with what has happened on all the grounds in the northern 

 hemisphere, there now seems little room for doubt that the stock of 

 these cetaceans has been seriously reduced. The extent of the decline 

 will be seen from the following table, which shows the annual catch, 

 the number of steamers employed, and the average catch per steamer, 

 since the inception of whaling in Scottish waters in 1903. 



Year. 



Catch. 

 No. 



No. of Steamers 

 employed. 



Average Catch 

 per Steamer. 

 No. 



1903 



127 



2 



63-5 



1904 



327 



10 



32-7 



1905 



533 



13 



41 



1906 



710 



13 



54-6 



1907 



600 



12 



50 



1908 



651 



11 



59-2 



1909 



730 



11 



66-4 



1910 



615 



11 



55-9 



1911 



503 



11 



45-7 



1912 



440 



11 



40 



1913 



437 



13 



33-6 



