10 Part III. — Seventeenth Annual Report 



The quantity of all kinds of fish, except saithe, caught by line 

 within the closed waters was less last year than in 1897; but the 

 decrease was by far the greatest in cod and haddocks, as may be 

 seen from the following Table : — 



FISH. 



1894. 



1895. 



1896. 



1897. 



1898. 





Cwts. 



Av'rage. 



Cwts. 



Av'rage. 



Cwts. 



Av'rage. 



Cwts. 



Av'rage. 



Cwts. 



Av'rage. 



Cod - 



32,571 



0-52 



47,646 



0-81 



64,663 



1-07 



79,731 



1-26 



56,20S 



1-07 



Ling 



2,169 



0-035 



2,937 



0-005 



3,868 



0-062 



3,544 



0-056 



2,567 



0-049 



Tor.sk - 



25 



0-002 



24 





94 





25 





43 





Saithe - 



6,120 



009 



5,083 



0-087 



10,636 



0-17 



11,761 



0-18 



14,881 



0-28 



Haddock 



153,529 



2-47 



178,370 



3-056 



156,703 



2-6 



126,031 



2-004 



81,098 



1-554 



Whiting 



5,845 



0-094 



5,114 



0 087 



4,836 



0-08 



3,319 



0-052 



1,535 



0-029 



Turbot- 



5 









15 





16 





13 





Halibut 



254 



0-004 



403 



0-007 



691 



0-011 



707 



o-oii 



730 



0-013 



Lemon Sole - 











19 





14 





1 





"Flounder, Plaice, 























and Brill "- 



5,477 



0-088 



5,765 



0-09 



3,402 



0-056 



3,978 



0-063 



3,425 



0-065 



Conger 



1,244 



0-02 



777 



0-013 



823 



0-013 



1,533 



0-024 



826 



0-015 



Skate, - 



3,281 



0-053 



3,014 



0-051 



3,683 



0-061 



3,999 



0-063 



3,273 



0-062 



Other kinds of 























White Fish 



7,976 



0-128 



9,456 



0-16 



7,483 



0-12 



6,663 



0-105 



4,574 



0-087 



The quantity of cod — which had been increasing each year from 

 1894 to 1897— fell from 79,731 cwts. in 1897 to 56,208 cwts. in 

 1898, a decrease of 23,523 cwts. The average per "shot" also 

 fell from 1*26 cwts. to 1*07 cwts. The diminution in the abundance 

 of haddocks was even more marked. The quantity landed from the 

 Moray Firth in 1897 was 126,031 cwts.; last year it amounted only 

 to 81,098 cwts., or nearly 45,000 cwts. less. In 1895 the quantity 

 was more than double what it was last year. The fluctuations in 

 the abundance of cod and haddocks were common to the other 

 districts on the East Coast and were not peculiar to the Moray 

 Firth. There was also a diminution in the quantity of flat-fishes 

 landed by line fishermen from the closed waters, as well as in the 

 quantity of ling, whitings, and skates. The only fish which showed 

 an increase was saithe, the quantity of which has gradually increased 

 each year since 1894. 



The trawling investigations in the Firth of Clyde, when compared 

 with those of previous years, show that, taking all the stations 

 together and all kinds of fish, the average number per haul of the 

 net has generally increased over the period comprised, although 

 considerable fluctuations occurred in different years. In 1888 the 

 general average for the closed area was 109*7 fishes per haul ; in 

 1890 it was 99-5 per haul; in 1895 it was 1134; in 1896 it was 

 120*7 ; in 1897, 112*5 ; and last year it rose to 189'3 fishes per haul. 

 The rise in the average has been most marked in the flat-fishes, the 

 figures for the respective years being 61*2, 61*1, 647, 75*5, 84 - 8, 

 and 94*7. The increase was due for the most part to an increased 

 abundance of witches and long rough dabs, plaice and lemon soles 

 having rather diminished in numbers over the period. But as stated 

 in previous Reports, inferences as to changes in the abundance or 

 relative proportions of the fishes in the closed area of the Clyde can 

 only be provisional, inasmuch as the observations comprise only ten 

 series of hauls at the various stations. It will require much more 

 extended observations both in the Firth of Clyde and the Moray 

 Firth before conclusions can be drawn with any degree of certainty 



