of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



209 



A closer examination of the records for the last period is of interest in 

 comparison with the number of fry yearly planted : — 





1892. 



1893. 



1894. 



1895. 



1896. 



1897. 



1898. 



Number of cod landed, 



44,013 



50,322 



05,212 



65,753 



70,414 



70,898 



81,337 



Number of fry dis- 

 tributed, 



10 millions 



20 millions 



Nil. 



12 millions 



18 millions 



20 millions 



Not 

 known. 



Yearly increase, 





6,309 



14,819 



514 



4,461 



484 



10,439 



Thus the decline in the annual catch during the period 1872-1892 

 amounted to 39,313 cod ; the total number of fry planted from which 

 results might be looked for during the period 1893-1890 was 80,000,000, 

 and the total increase in the fishery during the same six years was 

 37,324 cod. The increase during the last six years is not far short of 

 the decline during the previous twenty-one years. 



It is stated in the Reports of the Society that the increase was princi- 

 pally among the young fishes — not yet matured ; and as two of these are 

 often counted for one owing to their smaller size, the actual increase was 

 greater than shown by the figures of the statistics. In Plate I. is given 

 a graphic illustration of the progress of the cod-fishery in the Christiania 

 Fjord during the past twenty-seven years, as shown in the Table, and I 

 think the Tables as well as this illustration can best be left to speak for 

 themselves. The red line extending between the years 1892 to 1898 

 represents the progress of the fishery during that period. Its average is 

 67,323, while it rises gradually from 44,013 in 1892 to 81,337 cod in 

 1898. 



