of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



V.) 



collected for the past five years. The total quantities and the average per 

 "shot" of the line for each year in the various districts are as follows : — 





1894. 



1895. 



1896. 



1897. 



189* 



I 



District. 













































Cwts. 



Average. 



Cwts. 



Average. 



Cwts 



Average 



Cwts. 



Average. 



Cwts. 



Average. 



Wick, 



Lybster, - 



Helmsdale, 



Cromarty, 



Findhorn, 



Buckie, 



Banff, 



19,008 

 4,408 

 15,826 

 21,346 

 60,074 

 48,540 

 49,292 



2- 47 

 4-91 



3- 52 

 3'07 



4- 04 

 4-21 

 2-94 



23,009 



16^669 

 19,193 

 68,761 

 50,489 

 76 491 



4-03 



3- 77 

 415 

 2-93 



4- 86 

 4-66 

 4-77 



31,556 

 4,241 

 18,360 

 15,317 

 63,521 

 57,450 

 66,471 



5*40 

 2-87 

 4-71 



2- 51 



4- 46 



5- 05 



3- 82 



44,258 

 7,118 

 17,148 

 14,736 

 46,694 

 50,067 

 61,329 



6-16 



4-22 

 4-93 

 2-48 



2- 66 

 477 



3- 70 



31,383 

 4,438 

 13,143 

 12,428 

 30,770 

 41,102 

 36,057 



6-49 

 3-26 



3- 84 

 2 065 

 2-088 



4- 24 

 2-13 



Total, 



218,494 



3-05 



258,589 



4-43 



256,916 



4-26 



241,350 



3-83 



169,321 



3"244 



These figures refer exclusively to the quantities of fish caught by line 

 in the closed waters of the Moray Firth, and it is interesting to compare 

 them with the total quantities of the same kinds of lish landed in each 

 district, and caught by line both without and within the closed area. 

 Thus, excluding herrings, sprats, and mackerel, which are not com- 

 prised in the special statistics referred to, the total quantities, in cwts., 

 of white fish landed in each district in 1898 were as follows, the gross 

 quantity amounting to 207,318 cwts. : — 



Wick. Lybster. Helmsdale. Cromarty. Findhorn. Buckie. Banff. 

 67,791. 4,438. 13,143. 12,428. 30,857. 42,092. 36,569. 



When these totals are compared with those given in the Table, it 

 will be seen that a very large proportion of the line-caught fish landed 

 in those districts were obtained from the Moray Firth — namely, 169,321 

 cwts. out of a total of 207,318 cwts. In three of the seven districts 

 comprising the coasts of the Moray Firth — namely, Lybster, Helmsdale, 

 and Cromarty — all the fish which were landed were captured within 

 the closed waters. In the other districts the proportion of such fish 

 is very considerable. Thus, in the Banff district only 512 cwts. of the 

 36,569 cwts. landed were caught beyond the limits of the firth. In the 

 Findhorn district, of 30,857 cwts. landed, all but 87 cwts. were obtained 

 from the Moray Firth. Of 42,092 cwts. landed in the Buckie district, 

 41,102 cwts. were caught in the Moray Firth. In the Wick district, 

 which comprises only a small part of the coast of the Moray Firth, 

 nearly half of the fish landed were obtained from the closed waters — 

 namely, 31,383 cwts. out of a total quantity of 67,791 cwts. 



With respect to the fluctuations in the quantities captured by line in 

 the Moray Firth in the various years, it will be noticed from the Table 

 that the gross quantity taken in 1898 is less than in any of the 

 previous years, and that the average catch per " shot " of the lines is 

 also smaller than in any year since 1894. The decrease in the quantity 

 last year, as compared with 1897, amounted to no less than 72,029 cwts.; 

 as compared with 1896, the figures show a falling-off to the extent of 

 87,595 cwts., while it is lessby 89,268 cwts. than the quantity landed 

 in 1895. The average catch per "shot" fell from 4*43 cwts. in 1895, 

 4-26 cwts. in 1896, and 3 ; 83 cwts. in 1897, to 3'244 cwts. in 1898. It 

 might be supposed that this large diminution in the quantity of fish 

 caught by line in the Moray Firth during the last year or two was owing 



