of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



47 



matter to arrange, as, to render the statistics of any real value, it was 

 necessary to learn as nearly as possible where the fish were captured, the 

 size of the boats, the kind of bait, the nature of the weather, and also 

 the size and condition of the fish. It was obvious that this work could 

 not be overtaken by the District Fishery Officers, hence at the outset it 

 was necessary to appoint a ! correspondent ' at the various stations from 

 which boats fished in the closed waters. 



With the assistance of the Fishery Officers of the districts, we at last 

 succeeded in completing the arrangements for the Firth of Forth and St 

 Andrews Bay, from which we are now receiving daily returns, showing the 

 number of the fish captured, size of boats, <fcc. 



While it was possible to obtain the desired returns from the Forth and 

 St Andrews Bay, it was practically impossible, owing to the narrowness of 

 the water from which trawling is prohibited, to get reliable statistics of 

 the fish caught in Aberdeen Bay. The boats are at one time fishing 

 inside, at another outside the boundary ; and the fishermen can seldom, if 

 ever, say how many fish were taken in the closed waters and how many 

 beyond. 



In instituting this enquiry, it was necessary to consider carefully the 

 three partially protected areas from every point of view, and to ascertain 

 as far as possible which fish are in the habit of visiting them either in 

 search of food, shelter, or spawning grounds at the present day. Although 

 there are a considerable number of food-fishes in our waters, it is only 

 necessary to direct special attention in an enquiry of this kind to those 

 which are largely used as food either in a fresh or in a preserved state. 

 Chief amongst food fishes in Scotland is the herring ; then in order of 

 importance we have the haddock, cod (along with which the ling and 

 hake may be included) ; whiting ; halibut and turbot ; flounders, dabs, 

 plaice and brill, and lastly, the skate and coalfish. The value of these 

 during 1885 in round numbers was as follows : — (1) Herring and sprats 

 (cured and fresh), £1,700,000, (2) haddock, £300,000; (3) cod, ling 

 and hake, cured and fresh, £250,000; (4) halibut and turbot, £30,000; (5) 

 flounders, dabs, plaice, and brill, £6,000; (6) skate, £15,000; (7) coalfish, 

 £10,000. Our waters yield comparatively few shellfish. In 1885 the 

 lobsters and crabs were valued at £58,000; the mussels at £15,000; while 

 the oysters only yielded £800. 



If we consider the Forth either as a feeding ground or nursery for these 

 fish, we find that it is extremely well adapted to play the part of both for 

 most of them, and we are more and more impressed with this fact, if we 

 enquire as to its yield some twenty or thirty years ago. 



Unfortunately, we have no statistics to trust to, but all the old fisher- 

 men allege that haddocks, flounders, cod, and other white fish were once 

 far more abundant than they are at the present day. Dense shoals of 

 herring and sprats still visit the Firth of Forth, but it seems, a generation 

 ago, herring were still more abundant. In former years herring used 

 often to spawn above Inchkeith, and in Kirkcaldy Bay, but now the chief 

 spawning grounds are at or near the Fluke Hole (off Pittenweem) and in 

 the vicinity of the May. The autumn brood seems to enter the Firth in 

 October and to work its way (sometimes along with the sprat shoals, some- 

 times separately) up towards Inchkeith, and later into the brackish water 

 between Queensferry and Alloa. As the young herring increase in size 

 they leave the upper reaches for the deeper waters of the Firth, and 

 gradually approach the May previous to entering the North Sea to feed 

 on the shoals of Crustacea, ete.,*it contains during the summer and autumn. 

 But the Forth is also visited during the winter by shoals of large herring, 

 apparently like the fry, in search of food, and even the large fish are 



