of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 163 



1905-1906. 



Months. 



Estimated 

 No. of 

 Crans 



Estimated 

 No. of Young 

 Herring. 



Estimated 

 No. of 

 Sprats. 



Estimated 

 Total No. of 

 Fish. 



Estimated 

 Percentage 

 of Young 

 Herring. 



October, 





25,200 



10,800 



36,000 



70-0 



November, . 



l,251f 



9,761,316 



15,390,684 



25,152,000 



38-8 



December, . 





1,533,900 



453,100 



1,987,000 



77-6 



January, 



30 



576,000 



144,000 



720,000 



80-0 



February, . 





96,000 



24,000 



120,000 



80-0 





1,371^ 



11,992,416 



16,022,584 



28,015,000 



42-4 



With regard to the relative percentages of young herrings and sprats, I 

 would point out that there is every indication that when a larger body of 

 fish than usual enter the Tay estuary the percentage of sprats is usually 

 very high ; this was certainly the case during the past season 1905-6, 

 but was not quite so noticeable during the previous season of 1904-5. 

 It is also, of course, of equal importance to note that when fish are com- 

 paratively scarce in the estuary it is due usually to the falling-ofF in the 

 numbers of sprats — in other words, whilst young herring are always 

 present in the Tay estuary the larger shoals of sprats are only occasionally 

 present. 



The destruction of young herrings and other fishes is, therefore, not so 

 alarmingly great as one would imagine it to be on first looking at the 

 samples and the tables of percentages, and does not, in my opinion, argue 

 for any drastic changes in the mode of fishing. 



The fishermen, however, should not persist in fishing when the per- 

 centage of sprats falls below 60, and when the fish are of small size and 

 not of much use for purposes of food. 



The sale of fish for manure purposes should, I think, also be strictly 

 prohibited, even when the fish are unusually abundant and the percentage 

 of sprats very high. 



During the course of the two pastVinters over 40,000 sprats and young 

 herrings have been carefully measured with the object of ascertaining the 

 probable age groups of both fish and the probable annual rate of growth. 

 These measurements will be dealt with on another occasion. 



General Account of the Sprat Fishing. 1905-1906. 



This season's sprat fishing was late in beginning, later even than last 

 season, and the lateness was again due to the great scarcity of fish. The 

 regular sprat fishing of this season began on the 6th of November and 

 practically came to an end during the latter half of December; it was 

 taken part in by the same number of boats, and by practically the same 

 number of men as last year. 



The two main features of this season's fishing were (1) the excellent 

 quality of the sprats whilst they remained plentiful in the estuary, and 

 (2) the great scarcity of both sprats and young herring during the latter 

 half of December and the whole of January and February. 



The quality of the sprats was the best seen in Dundee for some years, 

 the catches during the first week of the regular fishing consisting of over 



