of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



161 



On the other hand, during December, January, and February, when 

 the fish were very scarce, and the percentage of young herrings very high, 

 a typical unpicked sample of the fish consisted of : — 



" Halfiin " Herrings, 

 Young Herrings, 

 Sprats, 

 Young Cod, 



„ Whiting, 



,, Sparlings, 



., ' Saithe, 



„ Plaice, 

 Sand-eels, . 

 Gobius minutus, 

 Liparis montagiti, 

 A gonus ca taph r actus, 

 Shrimps ( Grangon vulgaris ) 



16 



2218 

 54 

 38 

 35 



416 

 5 

 12 

 25 

 21 

 11 

 11 



600 



There were also present in this sample about 200 larval fish, consisting 

 of over 90 per cent, young herring and about 10 per cent, of young sprats, 

 sand-eels, and sparlings. 



The whole of the above sample represents about one-twelfth part of a 

 cran. The 40 samples of sprats and young herring examined during this 

 season represented about one-thousandth part of the entire season's catch. 



The catch was carefully examined on every day when the fish were 

 landed at the Dundee Tidal Harbour, but on some days no large samples 

 of sprats aud herring were bought or examined, a rough estimate only 

 being made of the proportion of sprats and herring which made up the 

 catch. 



By these two methods the following Table has been drawn up, showing 

 the approximate composition of the catch throughout the season. 



An asterisk denotes the days when the estimate was only a superficial 

 one : — 



Date. 



1 



No. of Crans. 



Estimated 

 No. of Young 

 Herring. 



Estimated 

 No. of Sprats. 



Estimated 

 Total No. of 

 Fish. 



1905. 

 October . 



n 



25,200 



10,800 



36,000 



November 1 . 



i 



16,800 



7, "ZOO 



24,000 



2* . . 



H 



15,000 



15,000 



30,000 



3 . . 





61,200 



142,800 



204,000 



6 . 



186§ 



250,992 



3,334,680 



3,585,600 



„ 7* . 



56 



107,520 



967,680 



1,075,200 



8 . . 



105* 



243,072 



1,782,528 



2,025,600 



9 . . 



168| 



647,040 



2,588,160 



3,235,200 



10 . 



40! 



186,624 



590,976 



777,600 



11* • • 



53! 



308,160 



719,040 



1,027,200 



„ 13 • • 



126! 



1,360,128 



1,068,672 



2,428,800 



