of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



9 



1 



1894. 



1895. 



1896. 



1897. 



1898. 



I'lStlK'tu 



1 Sir* d 



» WIS. 



Av'rajje. 



Cwts. 



Av'rage. 



( !wts. 



Av rage. 



Cwts. 



Av'rage. 



( !\vts 



Av ni£t\ 



Wick, . 



19,008 



2-47 



23,009 



4-03 



31,556 



5-40 



44,258 



6-16 



31,383 



6-49 



Lybster, . 



4,408 



4-91 



3,977 



3-77 



4,241 



2-87 



7,118 



4-22 



4,438 



3'26 



Helmsdale, 



15,826 



3-52 



16,669 



4-15 



18,360 



471 



17,148 



4-91 



13,143 



3-84 



Cromarty, 



21.346 



3-07 



19,193 



2-93 



15,317 



2 51 



14,736 



2*48 



12,428 



2 065 



Findhorn, 



60,074 



4-04 



68,761 



4-86 



63,521 



4-46 



46,694 



2-66 



30,770 



2-088 



Buckie, . 



48,540 



4-21 



50,489 



4-66 



57,450 



5-05 



50,067 



4-77 



41,102 



4-24 



Banff, . 



49,292 



2-94 



76,441 



4-77 



66,471 



3-82 



61,329 



3-70 



36,057 



2-13 





218,494 



3-05 



258,589 



4-43 



256,916 



4"26 



241,350 



3-83 



169,321 



3-244 



Comparison of these figures with those given in the ordinary 

 statistical Tables published in Part I. of the Annual Report shows 

 that by far the greater amount of the line-caught fish landed in 

 the Moray Firth districts is taken from the Firth itself. Of a total 

 of 207,318 cwts. landed in these districts last year, 169,321 cwts. 

 were obtained within the closed waters, and 37,997 cwts. outside 

 the Firth. Thus over 80 per cent, was caught within the closed 

 area, a proportion almost the same as in the previous year. In 

 some of the districts — namely, Lybster, Helmsdale, and Cromarty — 

 all the fish landed by line fishermen were captured in the Firth. 



Last year the extent to which line fishing was carried on in the 

 Moray Firth was much less than in the previous year, the total 

 number of shots of the line having decreased from 62,875 to 52,183, 

 a diminution of more than ten thousand, and the lowest since the 

 Firth was closed. For the first time also since the Firth was closed 

 the number of trips or shots of the large boats exhibited a falling- 

 off— namely, from 14,039 in 1897 to 10,330. In 1894 the number 

 was 7082, in 1895 7710, in 1896 11,917. The number of trips or 

 shots of the small-line boats fell from 48,836 to 41,853 — the lowest 

 since 1894. 



With respect to the fluctuations in the quantities of fish taken by 

 line in the Moray Firth in the various years, it will be seen from 

 the figures in the above Table that the total quantity landed in 1898 

 is the lowest in the series, and the average per shot is lower than in 

 any year since 1894. The decrease in the quantity as compared 

 with 1897 amounted to 72,029 cwts., the diminution of the average 

 being from 3-83 cwts. to 3'24 cwts. The decrease in the quantity 

 of line-caught fish in 1898 was not peculiar to the Moray Firth, 

 but was common to the East Coast and to the whole coast of 

 Scotland. In the Moray Firth it was most marked in the Banff 

 district, in which the total quantity landed from the closed waters 

 in 1898 was 36,057 cwts., as against 61,329 cwts. in the previous year. 

 In the Buckie district the decrease was from 50,067 cwts. to 

 41,102 cwts.; in the Helmsdale and Cromarty districts it was less 

 marked. The average catch per shot of the line fell in all the 

 districts except Wick ; in the Banff district it was reduced from 

 37 cwts. in 1897 to 213 cwts. last year. 



