of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



xxix 



on occasion as mucli as 30s. per box was being realised for fish which, in 

 a normal year, would be sold at from Is. 9d. to 2s. 6d. per box — if, 

 indeed, they would not have been actually unsaleable. 



The average price per cwt. realised over the whole year was 

 15s. 7d., as compared with 15s. Id. in 1913, and 12s. Id. in 1912. 



Cod. 



The total catch of cod in 1914 was 1,064,459 cwts., valued at 

 £548,970, as compared with 1,233,449 cwts., and £583,451 in the 

 preceding year. It will thus be seen that this species alone accounted 

 for 41 per cent, of the quantity and 40 per cent, of the value of all 

 the round fish landed during the year. The percentages of the total 

 catch attributable to the three methods of capture in vogue were, by 

 trawl, 78 per cent. ; by lines, 17 per cent. ; and by nets, 5 per cent., 

 these proportions being almost identical with those for 1913, the only 

 difference being that the trawlers' sha.re increased by 1 per cent, at the 

 expense of the quantity taken by nets. Cod-net fishing, largely owing 

 to the adverse weather encountered in the Moray Firth in the spring, 

 was considerably less successful than in the preceding year, the 

 quantity taken by this means having fallen from 72,000 cwts. to 

 54,000 cwts. 



Of the trawl catch, 355,702 cwts., or 43 per cent., was landed by 

 foreign trawlers, chiefly German. These figm-es, of course, represent 

 the result of only seven months' woi'k on the part of these vessels, 

 and afford a good indication of the prominent position which had been 

 attained by them in the Scottish fishing industry when war broke out. 



The average price per cwt. throughout the year was 10s. 4d. as 

 compared with 9.>. 5jd. inl913. 



Ling. 



Of ling, 210,384 cwts., valued at £78,627, were marketed during 

 the year under review, these figures being only 3 per cent, and 1 per 

 cent, respectively under those for 1913. This fish is still taken princi- 

 pally by line, although of recent years an increasing proportion has 

 been landed by trawlers. In 1914, however, the line fishermen 

 regained some of the ground lost in the preceding year, the percentage 

 of the total catch credited to them having increased from 57 to 62. 

 The improvement was, however, due almost wholly to the greater 

 success of the steam liners, whose contribution increased from 102,654 

 cwts. to 120,542 cwts., whereas that of the sailing liners fell from 

 19,298 cwts., to about one-third of that quantity. The catch of the 

 motor-liners (2221 cwts.), although comparatively insignificant, repre- 

 sents an increase upon the preceding year's figures of over 100 per cent. 



The average price per cwt. realised during the year was 7s. 5jd., or 

 l|d. more than in 1913. 



Whitings. 



The catch of whitings, which amounted to 224,890 cwts., was 1145 

 cwts. in excess of that of 1913, and this is the more remarkable when 

 it is recalled that the 1913 catch was in its turn 29 per cent, in advance 

 of that of 1912, and 50 per cent, greater than the average for the 

 preceding five years. It seems evident from these figures that 



