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Part III. — Twenty-seventh Annual Report 



little over 3,000,000 cwts.; the highest years were 1907 and 1908. The 

 curve formed by the figures for the successive years shows fluctuations up 

 and down during the first period, and a fairly steady and considerable rise 

 from 1900 onwards. This rise was due in the greater part to the increase 

 in the pelagic fish (herring), but also not a little to the increase in the 

 trawled fish. 



The aggregate quantity of line-caught fish landed in the seventeen years, 

 1892-1908, amounted to 11,080,088 cwts., an average per annum of 

 651,770 cwts. In the first eight years of that period, 1892-1899, the 

 quantity was 7,032,609 cwts., the average per annum being 879,076 cwts.; 

 in the last eight years the aggregate was 3,599,003 cwts., the average per 

 annum being 449,875 cwts. The decrease thus amounted to nearly 49 per 

 cent, when the two periods are contrasted. The decrease when the figures 

 for 1892 are compared with those for 1908 amounted to barely 44 per 

 cent. A study of the figures for the various years shows that from 1893 

 to 1896 there was a steady and fairly uniform rise in the quantity of line- 

 caught fish landed, the quantity in the latter year being 1,097,736 cwts. ; 

 but from 1896 to 1902 there was a rapid decline, the quantity dropping to 

 405,030 cwts., while since then there has been a tendency for a moderate 

 rise in the quantity, with, however, a good deal of fluctuation. 



The most noteworthy feature in the statistics of the East Coast fisheries 

 during the period under leview was the development of steam trawling. 

 The increase in the quantity of trawl-caught fish has thus been very great. 

 In the seventeen years the total quantity of trawled fish landed on the 

 East Coast was 19,294.391 cwts., the average per annum being 1,134,964 

 cwts. But in the first eight years of the period the quantity amounted to 

 only 4.639,260 cwts., giving an annual average of 579,907 cwts., whereas 

 in the last eight years the quantity was 13,595,970 cwts., and the annual 

 average 1,699,496 cwts. The increase, comparing period with period, was 

 thus about 193 per cent. Comparing the figures for 1892 and 1908, the 

 increase amounted to 447 per cent., the respective quantities being 

 375,043 cwts. and 2,051,586 cwts. The increase in the trawl-caught fish 

 has been practically uniform and regular throughout the period. Starting 

 in 1892 considerably below the level of the line-caught fish, it began to 

 exceed it first in 1898. In 1892 the trawled fish represented 29 per cent, 

 of the total demersal fish landed on the East Coast, whereas in 1908 they 

 represented 80 per cent. 



During the seventeen years the aggi egate of the demersal fish landed 

 by line and by trawl amounted to 30,374,479 cwts., an average per annum 

 of 1,786,734 cwts. In the first eight years. 1892-1899, the quantity was 

 11,671,869 cwts., and the annual average 1,458,984 cwts.; in the last 

 eight years, 1901-1908, the quantity was 17,194,973 cwts., and the 

 average per annum 2.149,372 cwts. The increase, comparing one period 

 with another, was thus about 47 per cent. In the year 1892 the aggregate 

 amounted to 1,288,248 cwts., while in 1908 the aggregate was 2,563,764 

 cwts., an increase of 99 per cent. If the quantities of demersal fish are 

 contrasted with the quantities of pelagic fish, the following results appear. 

 In the whole period the pelagic fish amounted to 59 per cent, and the 

 demersal fish to 41 per cent, of the whole. In the first period, 1892-1899, 

 the pelagic was 63*6 per cent., while the demersal was 36*4 per cent, of the 

 whole for that period. In the last eight years the pelagic was 55 '8 per cent, 

 and the demersal 44'2 per cent, of the total. We thus see that on the 

 East Coast the demersal fish have increased in greater ratio than the pelagic. 



The total quantity of the pelagic fish taken in the seventeen years 

 amounted to 43,634.580 cwts., or an annual average quantity of 2,566,740 

 cwts. In the first eight years the quantity was 20,401,620 cwts., the 

 annual average being 2,550,202 cwts. ; in the last eight years the quantity 

 aggregated 21,694,946 cwts., the average per annum being 2,711,868 cwts. 



