of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



21 





Cat-fish. 



Gurnard. 



Grey 

 Skate. 



Th or n- 

 back. 



Starry 

 Ray. 



Angler. 



V 



4 







14 



11 



105 



II. 





1 



6 



2 



9 



202 



Total 



4 



1 



6 



16 



20 



307 



There were also taken in these hauls one dragonet, seventy-seven 

 herrings, and two red gurnards. The aggregate number of fishes taken in 

 the seven hauls, the time of actual fishing being thirty hours, was 5445 ; 

 the average number caught per hour was thus 181 '5. The marketable 

 fishes numbered 3269, with an average per hour of 109*0, and the 

 unmarketable 2176, with an average of 72*5. The fish caught in largest 

 numbers was the witch, viz. 1888, the average per hour's fishing 

 being 62*9. 



The next few hauls were taken in the same locality but further to the 

 west towards Cromarty, in water from twenty-five to thirty fathoms deep, 

 and on a muddy bottom. In the first of these 1840 fishes were procured, 

 1125 being marketable. More than half of these were witches, viz. 

 826, and haddocks were also more abundant than in the previous hauls, 

 thornbacks and starry rays being also more numerous. The same features 

 characterised the remainder of the hauls here, and a considerable number 

 of cod were obtained. 



The next drag was for four hours and fifteen minutes, but the net was 

 badly torn, and the catch amounted to only 355 fishes, of which 208 were 

 marketable. The succeeding two hauls were more productive, the 

 number of fishes taken in one of them being 1160, and in the other 2117, 

 the marketable and unmarketable numbering respectively 688 and 1158, 

 witches being in each case the most abundant. 



Other two hauls were made a little closer in to Burghead Bay, 1515 

 and 2009 fishes being obtained, the majority again consisting of witches. 

 Altogether in this locality fourteen drags were taken. In one of these the 

 net was fouled and in another it was badly torn, and the results from 

 these hauls may be excluded. The total duration of the actual fishing 

 of the remaining twelve drags was fifty-two hours, and the aggregate 

 number of fishes taken was 14,072, or an average of 270*6 per hour's 

 fishing ; the marketable fishes numbered 7815, or an average of 150*3 per 

 hour, and the unmarketable 6257, the average beiug 270*6. In the total 

 were included 11,600 flat-fishes, 5992 being marketable and 5608 

 unmarketable. The most common was the witch, of which 5819 were 

 caught (4987 marketable) ; the common dabs numbered 2991 (all 

 unmarketable but 203), and there were 1988 long rough dabs. The 

 quantity of plaice taken was moderate, viz. 707, and all were marketable ; 

 only eighty-seven lemon dabs were caught, and all these were also taken to 

 market. One black or common sole was obtained, a fish which is very 

 rare on the east coast. Haddocks and whitings were poorly represented, 

 933 of the former and 263 of the latter being the whole number. 

 Only eleven of the haddocks were too small to be taken to market — a 

 great contrast to what usually obtains in these waters. The cod 

 numbered 286, and the marketable codlings 208 ; there were also twenty- 

 five codlings too small to be marketable. Among 211 skates and rays 

 were six grey skates, seventy-six thornbacks, 124 starry rays and five 



