xlii 



Thirty-third Annual Report 



The total quantity amounted to 544,290 cwts., a decrease of 

 117,000 cwts. as compared with the returns for 1913. The largest 

 contributors to the total were cod (223,405), haddocks (104,379), 

 saithe (96,718), ling (42,305), and whitings (41,708 cwts.), and with 

 the exception of ling all these show substantial declines. The bulk 

 of the fish cured dried are caught in Icelandic waters, and the vessels 

 hitherto engaged have, in so far as Scotland is concerned, been of 

 German ownership, so that on the outbreak of war the supply was 

 practically stopped. 



The fish are mostly dried by hot air and coke fires, and when 

 suitable weather conditions prevail they are partly sun dried and 

 finished off at coke fires. The cod, ling, and saithe taken in 1914 were 

 thinner and of smaller size than in 1913, averaging from 2 to 3 more 

 fish to the cwt. 



In so far as Aberdeen is concerned, the filleting of fish has expanded 

 very rapidly of recent years, and if tlie same rate of development is 

 maintained it will soon become the principal branch of the white-fi>^h 

 curing industry. Fish of all varieties are utilised, even Norway had- 

 docks and bream, which were formerly converted into manure, being 

 now filleted and presei'ved. The process consists of dipping the fish 

 in a vegetable dye (Annatto) which gives them the appearance of 

 having been lightly smoked, and is much less expensive than the 

 old system of hanging the fish in smoking kilns. If intended for ex- 

 portation the fish are packed in boxes of 15 lbs. weight. 



Curing of cod roes for use as bait in the French sardine fisheries 

 was not carried on to the same extent as in 1913, the stock from the 

 previous year not having been exhausted. In 1913, 2840 barrels, valued 

 at £6250, were disposed of, but in 1914 the figures had fallen to 1830 

 barrels and £3840 respectively. Many of the German trawlers which 

 had hitherto disposed of the roes at Aberdeen now sent them to 

 Hamburg via trading steamer, or transhipped them on the fishing 

 grounds into trawlers going direct to German ports from Iceland. 



Only one schooner's cargo of 790 barrels was exported direct to 

 Brittany, the remainder being sent via London. 



The following figures show the totals of the principal kinds cured 

 since 1903, viz. : — 





Cod. 



Ling. 



Tusk. 



Saithe. 



Haddocks. 



Mack- 

 erel. 



Year. 





^S 

 ^ o 



a S 



CO 



^ 'd 

 e3 o 



Op 



.'^ 



-2,14 



o a 



CO 



TO 'd 



Op 



o B 



II 



.'6 

 5^ 

 ^ 2 



o a 



CO 



CO 0^ 



o a 



CO 



op 



• •d 



p-i 



S'6 



^3 



MS 



1903 

 1904 

 1905 

 1906 

 1907 

 1908 

 1909 

 1910 

 1911 

 1912 

 1913 

 1914 



48,626 

 60,693 

 65,709 

 81,967 

 60,766 

 102,527 

 95,508 

 100,733 

 121,465 

 180,859 

 161,722 

 165,911 



23,396 

 110,737 

 154,353 

 124,522 

 123,985 

 127,479 

 109,537 

 112,636 

 113,888 

 138,107 

 120,733 



55,718 



1.290 



2,147 



2,200 



1,741 



1,256 



1,157 



1,920 



1,165 



1,252 



4.540* 



3,279* 



1,726* 



10,137 

 15,714 

 21,102 

 14,322 

 12,748 

 36,239 

 32,282 

 41,414 

 45,266 

 37,972 

 38,810 

 39,571 



5,000 

 2,000 

 15,290 

 12,500 

 10,400 

 6,700 

 3.320 

 3,990 

 2,980 

 2,100 

 1,950 

 2,450 



1,601 

 2,019 

 3,395 

 1,993 

 1,035 

 2,745 

 1,768 

 3,004 

 5,370 

 4,166 

 4,164 

 2,952 



1,378 

 525 

 1,220 

 3,990 

 3,150 

 2,870 

 1,110 

 1,200 

 550 

 2,470 



15,272 

 18,831 

 19,406 

 13,983 

 10,753 

 19.431 

 15,387 

 19,095 

 21,738 

 35,991 

 66,523 

 53,002 



15,960 

 18,000 

 19,200 

 25,570 

 30,150 

 31,920 

 32,350 

 40,600 

 55,360 

 43,700 



381,156 

 386,604 

 340,433 

 292,582 

 365,797 

 384,985 

 279,054 

 240,429 

 251,128 

 225,127 

 120,124 

 93,379 



6,809 

 11,709 

 13,512 

 12,110 

 14,863 

 5,172 

 5,692 

 9,057 

 8,408 

 13,347 

 9,950 



6,549 

 626 

 216 

 107 



830 

 1,473 

 1,389 

 1,390 

 1,487 

 2.153 

 2,568 

 2,738 

 8,700* 

 5,266* 

 6,461* 



* Cwts. 



The value of fish other than herrings cured and preserved was 

 £781,171, being nearly a quarter of a million pounds less than in 



