of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



141 



2338 cvvts. ; in the ten years, 1899-1908, the total was 129,274 cwts., the 

 annual average being 12,927 cwts., showing therefore the great increase of t 

 105,896 cwts., or about 453 per cent. It is really during the last five 

 years of the period, viz., 1904-1908, that mackerel have been taken in 

 anything like large quantities, and the highest figure was in 1907, when 

 the quantity landed amounted to 29,810 cwts. 



The total quantity of sprats returned for the twenty years was 785 cwts., 

 and in most years none were taken. 



Round Fish. — The total quantity of cod landed in the twenty years 

 amounted to 874,058 cwts., the average per annum being 43,703 cwts. 

 In the first ten years the quantity amounted to 523,597 cwts., the annual 

 average being 52,360 cwts. ; in the last ten years of the period the quantity 

 was 350,461 cwts. and the average 35,046 cwts. The decrease thus 

 amounted to 173,136 cwts., or 33 per cent. This decrease was due 

 entirely to the decline in the line-caught fish. In the eight-years, 1892- 

 1899, the quantity taken by line was 406,895 cwts., the average per annum 

 being 50,862 cwts.; in the eight years, 1901-1908, the quantity was 

 229,213 cwts., the average per annum being 28,652 cwts., a decrease of 

 nearly 44 per cent. The quantity of trawled cod was small. In the first 

 eight years it totalled 981 cwts., the average being 123 cwts., and in the 

 last eight years the quantity was 7784 cwts. and the average 973 cwts., an 

 increase of 6803 cwts. and 693 per cent. The proportion of the trawled 

 cod to those taken by line was, however, small, amounting in the latter 

 period to only about 3 per cent, of the total, less, indeed, than the quantity 

 taken by "net" — gill-nets being used largely in certain localities — the 

 percentage of which was 9, while the proportion taken by line amounted to 

 about 88 per cent. 



The aggregate of ling was greater than that of cod, amounting in the 

 twenty years to 941,205 cwts., or an average of 47,060 cwts. per annum. 

 The decrease in the ten years, 1899-1908, when compared with the first 

 ten years, was, however, greater, namely, nearly 62 per cent. In the 

 former period the quantity was 680,059 cwts., the average being 68,006 

 cwts.; in the latter the quantity was 261,146 cwts. and the average 

 26,115 cwts. 



Tusk, on the other hand, showed an increase. The total quantity landed 

 in the twenty years was 29,374 cwts., giving an average per annum of 

 1469 cwts. In the first half of the period the quantity was 12,125 cwts., 

 with an average of 1212 cwts. ; in the second half the total was 17,249 

 cwts., the average being 1725 cwts., an increase of about 42 per cent. All 

 the tusk were taken by line, except 148 cwts. in 1907, which were caught 

 by trawl. 



The quantity of saithe taken in the twenty years amounted to 558,085 

 cwts., the average being 27,904 cwts. per annum. In the first period the 

 quantity was 314,158 cwts. and the average 31,416 cwts.; in the second 

 period the quantity was 243,927 cwts. and the average 24,393 cwts. 

 There was thus a decrease of 70,231 cwts., or about 22 per cent. A com- 

 paratively small amount of the saithe are returned as taken by trawl, 

 and only in certain years. But considerable quantities appear in recent 

 years to have been caught by gill-nets, the amount so taken in 1908 

 having been 7865 cwts., or nearly 26 per cent, of the whole. 



On the West Coast haddocks have not the importance they have on the 

 East. The quantity taken in the twenty years amounted to 493,942 cwts., 

 with an average of 24,697 cwts. — thus less than ling, cod, or saithe. The 

 aggregate for the first period of ten years was 302,677 cwts., with an 

 annual average of 30,268 cwts. ; for the second period the total amounted 

 to 191,265 cwts., the average per annum being 19,126 cwts. In the latter 

 period of ten years there was therefore a decrease of 111,412 cwts., or 

 about 37 per cent. The quantity taken by line in the eight years, 1893- 



K 



