of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



xxix 



(d) SHELL-FISH. 



The total value of shell-fish landed in Scotland in the year 1910 

 was £69,760, or 3-6 per cent, less than in the preceding year. This is 

 the lowest figure recorded since 1895, when the total value only 

 reached £66,433. The decrease was confined to the eastern seaboard 

 (the returns for the West Coast showing a slight increase), and was 

 most pronounced in Orkney, which was responsible for about half of 

 the shrinkage. The decline was general, the only species in which 

 decreases in the catch did not occur being clams and those slumped 

 together under "unclassified." Towards the total value the East 

 Coast contributed 35 per cent., Orkney and Shetland 10 per cent., and 

 the West Coast 55 per cent., the corresponding percentages in 1909 

 being 36, 11, and 53. The general decline was largely attributable to 

 the stormy weather which prevailed during the winter and spring 

 months. 



Lobsters. 



Of shell-fish used for food, lobsters are the most important — at 

 least from the point of view of value. In 1910 the total quantity 

 landed was 6977 hundreds, as compared with 7122 hundreds in the 

 previous year, but notwithstanding this decrease, the value shows an 

 advance of £938 upon the figures for 1909. The decrease in quantity 

 was entirely referable to Orkney, while the increase in value was due 

 to the enhanced prices realised on the West Coast. 



Crahs. 



Crab fishing was less successful than in 1909, the catch of 22,071 

 hundreds representing a decrease from the previous year's figures of 

 4275 hundreds. Nor was the diminished catch compensated for, as 

 in the case of lobsters, by an increase in the gross value, the gross sum 

 realised (£13,831) being £1751 less than in the preceding jeskV. Crabs, 

 in contradistinction to lobsters, are taken principally on the East Coast, 

 and it was there that the greatest falling-off occurred. 



Oysters. 



The most marked decrease in the shell-fish catch occurred in oysters, 

 the total quantity of 8771 hundreds, landed in 1910, being equivalent 

 to only 71 per cent, of the previous year's total, while the value 

 declined from £4414 to £3473. Ninety-six per cent, of the catch and 

 value were taken from the Loch Ryan beds, the Loch Tarbert beds 

 (where the output of 165 hundreds was the greatest since 1902), Firth 

 of Forth beds, and Orkney beds contributing the remainder in the 

 order given. 



Mussels. 



The total quantity of mussels gathered in 1910 was 98,817 cwts.. 

 valued at £4476, as against 109,529 cwts. and £4481 in the previous 

 year. The greatest falling-off occurred in the output from the Clyde 



