Part III. — Seventeenth Annual Report 



to special causes, such as the operation of foreign trawlers which have 

 been working there, sometimes in considerable numbers ; and it is 

 probable that this conclusion would be to some extent true. But an 

 examination of the statistics of the fish caught by line on the whole of 

 the East Coast, and, indeed, around the whole coast of Scotland, shows 

 that the falling-off has not been peculiar to the Moray Firth, but was 

 general. Thus, while in 1897 the total quantity of line-caught fish 

 landed on the East Coast amounted to 959,566 cwts., it was only 

 686,694 cwts. last year — a decrease of 272,872 cwts. The figures for 

 the whole coast of Scotland are 1,416,237 cwts. for 1897 and 1,058,993 

 cwts. for 1898. The diminution referred to was common to all the 

 districts around the Moray Firth, but in different degrees. It was most 

 marked in the Banff district, in which the total quantity landed from the 

 closed waters amounted to 36,057 cwts., as compared with 61,329 cwts. 

 in the previous year. In Lybster district the total fell from 7,118 cwts. 

 in 1897 to 4438 cwts. in 1898; in the Buckie district the decrease was 

 from 50,067 cwts. in the former year to 41,102 cwts. in the latter; in 

 the Helmsdale and Cromarty districts the diminution w T as less marked. 

 The diminution in the average catch per "shot" was also shared among 

 the several districts, with one exception — namely, Wick, where a slight 

 rise is indicated, although the total quantity was less. In the Banff 

 district the average catch per "shot " fell from 3*7 cwts. in 1897 to 2'13 

 cwts. last year. 



With respect to the various kinds of fish caught by line within the 

 closed waters of the Moray Firth, the quantities and the average catch 

 per " shot " of the line for each of the five years are given in 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 



56,208 



1-07 



Ling .... 



2,169 



0-035 



2,937 



0-005 



3,868 



0-062 



3,544 



0-056 



2,567 



0-049 



Torsk .... 



25 



0-002 



24 





94 





25 





43 





Saithe .... 



6,120 



0-09 



5,083 



0-087 



10,636 



0-17 



11,761 



0-18 



14,881 



0-2S 



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 



o-oii 



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 



Skates .... 



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 fish included under this head comprise, for the most part, plaice and dabs. 



It is obvious from this Table that the great bulk of the fish caught by 

 line within the wdiole area consists of cod and haddock, which together 

 make up about four-fifths of the quantity landed last year. As in previ- 

 ous years ; the greater proportion of haddocks was taken on the south 

 coast, and landed in the districts of Banff, Buckie, and Findhorn; in the 

 districts of Wick, Lybster, and Helmsdale the quantity of cod exceeded 

 the quantity of haddocks. Ling, conger, torsk, and halibut were caught 

 in comparatively small quantities. 



It is to be noted that the quantity of flat-fishes caught by line in 

 the Moray Firlh is small. Last year the total weight of the halibut, 

 turbot, plaice, flounders, and all other varieties, did not exceed 4169 cwts. 

 Only 13 cwts. of turbot and 1 cwt. of lemon soles w r ere obtained, the 

 quantity, of halibut was 730 cwts., while 3425 cwts. of "flounders, plaice, 



