XX 



Fifth Annual Report of the 



Quantity of 

 White Fish 

 sold for con- 

 sumption 

 fresh. 



Total value 

 thereof, and of 

 Shell Fish. 



State of 

 Weather. 



Seventy 

 persons 

 Drowned. 



Boats wrecked 

 and damaged, 

 and loss of 

 Fishing Gear. 



Salmon sent to 

 London. 



938,369J barrels, of which 908,896^ barrels were sent to Germany 

 and other places on the Continent; 27,538 J to Ireland; and 

 1934 J to places out of Europe. 



The total quantity of white fish landed and sold for consumption 

 fresh, amounted to 1,714,453 cwts., as compared with 1,725,459 

 cwts. in 1885, being a decrease of 11,006 cwts., but an increase 

 against 1884 of 220,411 cwts. The fish which exhibited the largest 

 decrease were the herring, cod, ling, whiting, turbot, and skate ; 

 and those which showed the greatest increase were the haddock and 

 saithe — the former to the extent of 148,852 cwts., and the latter 

 17,372 cwts. The total value of white fish landed and sold for use 

 fresh was £685,973. Of shell fish landed, the total value was 

 £73,287. Thus the aggregate value of both white fish and shell fish 

 amounted to £759,260. The prices, however, last year, were 

 believed to have been much lower than for a great many years 

 past. 



During 1886, the weather generally was more suitable for 

 fishing than in the average of recent years. Notwithstanding this, 

 however, it has unhappily to be recorded that seventy persons, 

 connected with the Scottish fisheries, were drowned at sea. This 

 number is fifty-six less than in the previous year, which, without 

 doubt, was greatly owing to the fact that the weather was better 

 and that the grounds fished lay nearer land. Forty boats were 

 totally wrecked and 132 sustained damage, the aggregate loss 

 being estimated at £12,650. In addition, there was a loss of 

 nets and other fishing material, the value of which was about 

 £51,200. 



During the season of 

 to Billingsgate market. 

 London since the constitution 

 viz. : — 



1886, 23,407 boxes of salmon were sent 

 The total number of boxes sent to 

 of this Board has been as follows, 



Boxes of 

 Scotch Salmon 

 sent to Bil- 

 lingsgate ; 

 average of 4 

 years. 



Years. 



Boxes of Scotch 

 Salmon. 



1883 

 1884 

 1885 

 1886 



Total in 4 years, 



35,506 

 27,219 

 30,362 

 23,407 



116,494 



Average pro- 

 duction of 

 Salmon in 

 Scotland in 

 last four 

 years. 



This gives the large average for these four years of 29,127 

 boxes of Scotch salmon sent to London alone; and, if to this 

 is added a fair allowance for the number of fish consumed in 

 Scotland, and sent from thence elsewhere than to London, the total 

 average production of salmon in Scotland for these four years may 

 be estimated at 40,000 boxes. In Note VI. to Appendix (x. there 

 will be found a table of the boxes of salmon sent to London from 

 Scotland, for each year from 1834 to 1886, both inclusive. 



In a subsequent part of the Report it will be seen that the value 

 of the cured herrings last year was £1,377,834, 8s. 3d., and of the 

 herrings which were sold fresh, £83,417, making together £1,461,251, 



