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Part III. — Seventh Annual Report 



2. Fishery Statistics. 



For the First time it has been possible to analyse in a complete 

 and scientific manner the special statistics collected relatiug to the 

 fishing in several of the most important districts on the East Coast, 

 in which beam-trawling has been suspended ; and also in the 

 areas where beam-trawling was permitted. The results of this 

 analysis are detailed in the Special Beport (p. 18), and it will be 

 evident that they are of great importance and value as showing 

 the relative takes of line fishermen and beam-trawlers in unpro- 

 tected and protected waters, the proportional productiveness of the 

 waters at different distances from the shore, and other points 

 intimately associated with the judicious regulation of the fisheries. 



The detailed statistics refer chiefly to those portions of the East 

 Coast associated with the trawling experiments. These have been 

 collected and analysed at considerable labour and expense, the 

 whole of which has had to be met from the vote for Scientific 

 Investigations. It may be mentioned that the statistics collected 

 by the Board, being in certain important respects incomplete, it 

 was found necessary to set apart a further sum from the vote for 

 Scientific Investigations in order to supplement the statistical 

 returns from some of the chief fishing stations on the East Coast. 

 This has necessarily led to a considerable amount of unnecessary 

 duplication of work, and as the Board has recently requested the 

 Scientific Department to undertake the entire supervision of fishery 

 statistics, it is hoped that in future this will conduce to a more 

 complete and accurate statement being prepared without any great 

 additional expenditure. The Committee were recently able to 

 obtain the services of a trained statistician for the purpose of mak- 

 ing an exhaustive examination of the fishery statistics published in 

 this and other countries, and of elaborating a complete statistical 

 system applicable to the requirements of the Scottish Fisheries. 

 This inquiry has revealed certain defects in the statistics at present 

 collected around the Coast, as compared with those now obtained 

 by several other countries, and indicates the changes and modifica- 

 tions which it is desirable to introduce. An abstract of the Report 

 on this subject will be found at p. 178. 



Limiting attention to the statistics dealing with the East 

 Coast fisheries, it appears that during 1888, 66,744 tons of white 

 fish — exclusive of herrings, sprats, mackerel, and other net- 

 caught fish — were landed on the East Coast of Scotland by line 

 fishermen and beam- trawlers. Of this quantity by far the greater 

 amount (54,535 tons) was landed by line fishermen. The round-fish 

 — cod, ling, haddock, whiting, &c. — landed by line fishermen reached 

 a total of 51,498 tons, and the flat-fish, a total of 3037 tons ; giving 

 respectively a monthly average of 4291 J tons and 253 tons. Beam- 

 trawlers landed in the same period 8953 tons of round-frsh and 3236 

 tons of flat-fish, or a monthly average respectively of 746 tons and 

 269 tons. When these statistics are compared with those for 1887 

 it will be found that 4419 tons were landed in 1888 in excess of 

 the total for 1887. Further, in 1888, also, the amount landed 

 on the East Coast by beam-trawlers was about 2000 tons less than 



