xxii 



Thirty -first Annual Report 



Retukn showing the Quantity of Herrings landed in each District in each Month of the 



Year 1912. 





Jan. 



1' eb. 



jiar. 



April. 



Ma}'. 



June. 



Jul J'. 



Aug. 



isepij. 



(Jot. 



■NT 



Dec. 



A . 





Cwts. 



Cwts. 



Owts. 



Cwts. 



Cwts. 



Cwts. 



Cwts. 



Cwts. 



Cwts. 



Cwts. 



Cwts. 



Cwts. 



Cwts. 





0/1 



2,4/8 



2,lo6 



18 



9,593 



28,3/5 



iSOjUO/ 



29, /05 



5,411 



■ ■ 



■ ■ 





106 374 



Leith 



2,585 



3,542 



1,909 



69 



419 



435 



699 



155 



00,1 



24 / 



2.51 



010 



10 96S 



*\nst rxithcFi . 



5,641 



33,484 



19,541 



1,424 



14 



663 



6,541 



9,114 



652 





28 



Do 



77 165 



ilontrosp, 



119 



28 



537 



1,402 



13,133 



13,600 



27 









28 846 



Ston6h£ivGn ^ 







■ ■ 



56 



294 



2,303 



4,540 



1,897 





• • 



• • 



■ • 



9 090 



Aberdeen, 





332 



998 



1,004 



9,562 



52,913 



92,058 



53,924 



10,490 



964 



79 



95 



222',419 



Peteihead, 





14 



511 



49 



40,884 



220,217 



250,275 



159,859 



18,556 







3 





Fftiserburfifh, 





■ ■ 







17,680 



207,757 



305,063 



iDtJ,oUU 



9,695 









'700 QQ^ 



Banff 





98 



• • ^ 



13/ 





2,209 

 6,296 



8,180 



8,430 



6,511 



606 









26 171 







46 



51 





16,352 



9,589 



8,302 



109 



• • 



• • 





40 745 



rinunorn, 



o -on 



3,699 



4,355 





1,512 

 ■ ■ 



5,897 

 ■ • 



4,014 



2,628 



2,336 



4,650 



4,989 





QQ ono 

 0*7, yuu 



Cromarty, 

















1/4 







174 



Helmsdale, • 











21 



56 



ho 



• • ^ 











119 



Lvbster, . . 



"53 









123 



532 



54 



133 











895 



Wick, . . . 



294 



1,156 



641 





60,831 



210,575 



220,758 



98,725 



3,710 



"11 



"18 



1,761 



598,475 



Orkney, . . 



11 









39,510 



152,391 



254,022 



95,022 



98 





63 





541,117 



Shetland, . 





5,376 



5,785 



620 



360,900 



446,341 



415,963 



137,264 



13,755 



6,877 



871 





1,393.752 



Stornowaj', . 



7,334 



28,372 



23,666 



70 



64,803 



19,930 



34,915 



60,871 



8,607 



1,353 



5,539 



29,099 



284,559 



Barra, . . . 



193 



35 







23,296 



19,561 



7,389 



3,707 



2,408 



648 



589 





57.826 



Loch Broom, 



81 



86 



'98 





46 



58 



195 



1,719 



4,074 



3,878 



466 



248 



10,949 



Loch Carron 























and Skye, . 



7,938 



2,447 



185 



21 



599 



1,131 



5,475 



10,448 



5,391 



11,668 



5,523 



7,812 



58,636 



Fort-William. 



10,360 



18,176 



2,250 





12,381 



4,742 



637 



2,811 



3,073 



2,500 



1,020 



31,264 



89,214 



Campbeltown 



990 



1,008 



5,516 



6,814 



15,106 



14,701 



10,185 



1,785 



20,686 



23,696 



4,415 



907 



105.809 



Inveraraj-, . 





28 



140 



1,372 



1,337 



1,872 



1,152 



241 



483 



781 



266 



7,672 



Rothesay, 





"12 



44 



504 



776 



1,177 



2,175 

 1,209 



6,916 



2,507 

 689 



318 



1,121 



532 



16,082 



Greenock, . 



"3 





112 



134 



1,535 



915 



10,959 



340 



1,875 



313 



18,084 



Ballantrae, . 



25,783 



9,453 



3,821 



111 



1,042 



3,202 



5,207 



3,534 



1,101 



553 



332 



10,703 



64,842 



Totals, . 



65,576 



109,814 



71,923 



11,062 



671,341 



1,421,143 



1,682,495 



881,548 



114,506 



58,358 



27,960 



85,520 



5,201,246 



(h) SPBATS, SPARLINGS, AND MACKEREL. 



The Scottish sprat fishing was a failure in 1912, the entire catch 

 amounting to only 5597 cwts., valued at £1866, as compared with 

 35,875 cwts. and £4234 in the preceding year. These fish were 

 formerly difficult to dispose of in the home markets, owing to the 

 limited demand for them, but now that the Norwegian " sardine " tin- 

 ning industry has attained such dimensions, a good market can always 

 be found for them, provided the fish are of good quality ; but the 

 sprat, unfortunately, is even more erratic in its movements than its 

 congener the herring, and last year, although Norwegian buyers were 

 on the spot prepaj'ed to purchase, the sprats failed to appear, and the 

 buyers were compelled to turn to Brightlingsea and other English 

 centres for their supplies. 



The shortage in the catch caused a sharp advance in prices, the 

 average price per cwt. having jumped from 2s. 4d. in 1911 to 6s. 8d. 

 in 1912. 



Sparlings, known in England as smelts, are obtained almost wholly 

 in the Eirth of Forth. During the year under review the total catch 

 amounted to 400 cwts., which realised £1063, as compared with 300 

 cwts. and £648 in 1911. 



Judged solely by the total result, the mackerel fishing failed to 

 make any progress during the year, the quantity landed (48,010 cwts.) 

 being only 11 cwts. greater than in 1911, while the value (£8742) was 

 £1077 less. An examination of the tables, however, shows that on 

 the north-west coast, which is the recognised seat of this fishing, the 

 catch increased by 3417 cwts., or more than 23 per cent., while in the 



