of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



XXI 



decreases — in the case of the latter to the extent of 10,412 cwts., or 

 25 per cent., for which the exceptionally stormy weather encountered 

 during the autumn months was largely responsil^le. The landings by 

 line fishermen on the East Coast increased from 65,000 cwts. to 80,000 

 cwts., and the improvement, in keeping with tlie unusual abundance 

 of haddocks in the North Sea, was general along the entire seaboard. 



But if the decrease in quantity was disquieting from the point of 

 view of the food supply, fishermen themselves had no cause for 

 despondency, inasmuch that, notwithstanding the decline in the catch, 

 the total value (£528,660) was greater than that of 1909 by £35,741. 

 This increase was due solely to the enhanced prices realised for 

 trawled haddocks, the average price per cwt. for which was lis. 7d., 

 or 2s. Id. greater than in 1909, whereas prices for line-caught fish 

 showed, generally, a slight decline, the average per cwt. being 10s. 8d., 

 as against lis. in the preceding year. 



Cod. 



As indicated above, the cod-fishing of 1910 was noteworthy in that 

 the total catch for the first time exceeded that of haddocks, and at 

 this landmark in its history, therefore, it may be of interest to trace 

 its development alongside that of the haddock fishing. The following 

 table, which gives at intervals of five years the catch of cod and 

 haddocks, according to the method of capture, since 1895, shows the 

 remarkable progress which has been made : — 



1895 

 1900 

 1905 

 1910 



By Line 

 and Net. 



cwts. 

 374.913 

 242,820 

 249,080 

 301,695 



Cod. 

 By 



Trawl, 

 cwts. 



84,424 

 191,318 

 427,850 

 678,533 



Total. By Line. 



cwts. cwts. 



459,337 663,548 



434,138 162,535 



676,930 164,437 



980,228 126,995 



Haddocks. 

 By 



Trawl. 



cwts. 

 337,792 

 598,778 

 767,247 

 795,644 



Total. 



cwts. 

 1,001,340 

 761,313 

 931,684 

 922,639 



An examination of this table reveals some striking results. The 

 catch of haddocks has declined, it will be seen, by 8 per cent., whereas 

 that of cod has increased by no less than 113 per cent. While, too, 

 the catch by trawl has in each instance greatly increased, the rate of 

 progress has been much more rapid in the case of cod than of haddocks. 

 The catch of the latter species by that method has more than doubled, 

 certainly, but the quantitj^ of cod taken by trawl has increased eight- 

 fold, since 1895. Moreover, it will be observed that the increase in 

 trawled haddocks is more than counterbalanced by the decrease ir 

 line-caught haddocks, whereas in the case of cod an absolute increase 

 in the catch has occurred. As a matter of fact, the table shows that 

 since 1900 the quantity of cod taken by line has remained practically 

 stationary (the diffejence between the figures for 1905 and 1910 

 represents the increase attributable to cod-net fishing), and that, since 

 1895, the catch by methods other than trawling has declined by only 

 20 per cent., as against 81 per cent, in the case of haddocks. 



The more rapid expansion of the catch of trawled cod, as compared 

 with haddocks, is probably due to the fact that in the deeper waters on 

 the West Coast and in the Atlantic which trawlers have year by year 



