of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



xxxi 



(6) FLAT FISH, 



The totar quantity of flat fish landed was 196,394 cwts., valued at 

 £356,396. In respect of quantity, this is the smallest total since 1907, 

 but the value again constitutes a record, exceeding that established 

 in the preceding year by £15,551, or 4*6 per cent. The percentages 

 of the catch referable to trawl, line, and net fishing respectively were 

 70, 25, and 5, as compared with 70*5, 26, and 3-5 in 1913. It is 

 interesting to note that of the three species which show increased 

 landings, viz., turbot, plaice, and dabs, two — turbot and plaice — are 

 fish the supplies of which have been steadily diminishing in recent 

 years. This falling-off had, indeed, been so marked in the case of 

 plaice that concerted international action had been projected with a 

 view to conserving this fishery, and the substantial increase recorded 

 in the returns for 1914 is therefore welcome, not only in itself, but also 

 as suggesting that the stock has not been so depleted as the returns 

 of recent years would indicate. 



Plaice. 



This fish, which in 1913 lost for the first time the position it had so 

 long held as the principal contributor to the flat-fish supply, regained 

 it during the year under review. The catch amounted to 53,680 cwts., 

 valued at £90,282, these figures representing an increase in quantity of 

 7520 cwts., and in value of £18,681 upon the returns for 1913. The 

 increase is confined to the trawl and net landings, which were respec- 

 tively 37,685 cwts. and 6697 cwts., as against 30,804 cwts. and 4978 

 cwts. in 1913, the catch by fine having fallen from 10,378 cwts. to 

 9298 cwts. Notwithstanding the increased supply, plaice advanced 

 in value during the year, the average price per cwt. working out at 

 33s. 8d., as compared with 31s. in 1913. 



Halibut. 



Halibut, with a catch of 46,512 cwts., valued at £110,089, takes the 

 second place in the flat-fish returns as regards quantity, although in 

 point of value it is easily first. As compared with the returns for 1913, 

 there is a decrease in quantity of 2433 cwts. and in value of £1460, of 

 which the former is referable mainly to trawling, and the latter wholly 

 so, as the quantity taken by line, although less than in 1913 by 332 

 cwts., realised £4i81 more. Line fishing (chiefly by steamers) is still 

 the principal method of capturins^ halibut, and the quantity taken by 

 this means in 1914 was 33,797 cwts., which realised £81,121, or 73 per 

 cent, and 74 per cent, respectively of the whole. 



The average price per cwt. realised for halibut during the year was 

 £2, 7s. 4d., as compared with £2, 5s. 7d. in 1913. 



Lemon Soles. 



The quantity of lemon soles landed in 1914 was 33,790 cwts., which 

 realised £83,173, as against 36,696 cwts., valued at £83,472, in the 

 preceding year, from which it will be seen that, from the fishermen's 

 point of view, the shortage in quantity was compensated for by the 

 enhanced prices obtained. Lemon soles are taken almost exclusively 

 by trawlers, and all but 345 cwts. of the catch was landed by these 

 vessels. 



