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Part III. — Twenty -seventh Annual Report 



The proportion taken by trawl was, however, small, amounting to about 

 2 per cent, in the latter of the two periods. 



The decrease in the haddocks has been much less marked. Over the 

 whole twenty years the aggregate quantity landed was 580,687 cwts., the 

 average per annum being 29,034 cwts. In the ten years, 1889-1898, the 

 total was 316,559 cwts. and the average 31,656 cwts. ; in the last ten 

 years the quantity was 264,128 cwts., the average being 26,413 cwts., 

 showing a decrease of about 16'5 per cent. Very few trawled haddocks 

 were landed throughout the period, the total amounting to about 1200 cwts. 

 Contrasting the eight years, 1892-1899 and 1901-1908, the decrease of the 

 line-caught haddocks amounted to 52,090 cwts., or about 20 per cent. 



The whitings landed were comparatively trifling, totalling for the 

 twenty years 6373 cwts., with an average per annum of 319 cwts. They 

 were all taken by line, with the exception of 2 cwts., and comparison of 

 the periods shows that, contrary to the usual rule, the quantity has 

 increased. The increase in the last ten years amounted to 4995 cwts., or 

 725 per cent. ; the largest quantity landed in any one year was in 1908, 

 viz.. 1354 cwts. 



Contrasting with the whiting is the diminution in the quantity of 

 conger eels landed. The aggregate amounted to 904 cwts., the annual 

 average being 45 cwts. In the first period the quantity was 826 cwts. ; in 

 the last it was only 78 cwts., and none at all were landed in 1907 

 and 1908. 



Among the flat-fishes, the quantity of turbot landed in the twenty years 

 was only 162 cwts. ; in some years none were taken. The decrease in the 

 last ten years was about 60 per cent. 



The quantity of halibut taken was much greater, aggregating 81,569 

 cwts., or an average of 4078 cwts. per annum. With the exception of 

 20 cwts.. they were all caught by line, and a comparison of the two periods 

 shows a decrease in the latter amounting to 51,187 cwts., or about 77 per 

 cent. 



The skates and rays also show a diminution. The aggregate quantity 

 taken in the twenty years amounted to 52,942 cwts., the average per 

 annum being 2647 cwts. Except for 15 cwts., they were all caught by line, 

 and the decrease in the last period of ten years compared with the first 

 amounted to almost 21,000 cwts., or 57 per cent. 



West Coast. 



Pelagic Fish. — As on the East Coast, the pelagic fishes landed consist 

 almost entirely of herring. Over the whole of the twenty years the per- 

 centage of herrings works out at 99 per cent, and mackerel at 0*9 per cent.; 

 but in the last ten years of the period the percentage of herrings was 98*2, 

 while mackerel was 1*7 per cent., showing, as referred to below, an 

 increase in the fishing for mackerel. The quantity of sprats returned as 

 landed on the West Coast is quite insignificant. 



The aggregate quantity of herrings landed in the twenty years amounted 

 to 15,577,868 cwts., the average per annum being 778,893 cwts. ; in the 

 first ten years the quantity was 8,352,760 cwts., the average being 

 835,276 cwts., whereas in the last ten years of the period the quantity was 

 7,225,108 cwts. and the average per annum 722,511 cwts. There was thus 

 a decrease of 1,127,652 cwts., or about 13 5 per cent., comparing the two 

 periods of ten years. The highest figure in any one year was in 1891, 

 when the total of the herrings landed amounted to 1,252,202 cwts. ; the 

 lowest year was 1906, when the total was 554,246 cwts. 



The aggregate of the mackerel landed in the twenty years was 152,652 

 cwts., the average per annum being 7633 cwts. The quantity taken in 

 the ten years, 1889-1898, was 23,378 cwts., the average per annum being 



