of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



23 



except Wick, the line- caught fish landed are returned as having been 

 taken from these waters. In previous years this was the case with a 

 few of the districts only, and this circumstance seems to show that the 

 line-fishing is becoming more restricted in this area. In 1898 a small 

 proportion of the line-caught fish landed in the districts of Banff, 

 Buckie, and Finclhorn were procured outside the closed area. 



With regard to the fluctuations in the quantities captured by line 

 in the Moray Firth in the various years, it will be observed that 

 the gross quantity landed in 1899 is less than in any of the previous 

 years, and that the average per " shot " of the line is also the 

 lowest. The decrease in the quantity last year, as compared with 1898, 

 amounted to 21,546 cwts. ; as compared with 1895 the decrease is 

 110,814 cwts. ; and each year since 1895 has shown a progressive 

 falling -off in the quantity of line-caught fish landed. The average catch 

 per " shot " of the line has also fallen in the same period. In 1895 it 

 was 4*43 cwts.; in 1896 very nearly the same, 4*26 cwts.; in 1897, 3-83 

 cwts. ; in 1898, 3'24 cwts. ; and last year only 2-66 cwts. It does not 

 appear that this diminution in the quantity of line- caught fish landed 

 from the Moray Firth has been owing to special causes, since there 

 occurred a similar decline on the southern part of the east coast as 

 well as on the west coast of Scotland. Thus, while in 1898 the 

 quantity of line-caught fish landed on the East Coast, other than the 

 Moray Firth, amounted to 479,377 cwts., last year the quantity was 

 413,173 cwts., showing a decrease of 66,204 cwts. The figures for the 

 whole East Coast are— for 1898, 686,695 cwts., and for 1899, 593,822 

 cwts. — a decrease of 92,873 cwts. In 1897 the quantity was 959,566 

 cwts., or 365,745 cwts. more than it was last year. Along the whole 

 coast of Scotland the quantity of line-caught fish landed last year was 

 939,362 cwts., as compared with 1,058,994 cwts. in 1898 and 1,416,237 

 cwts. in 1897. It is evident, therefore, that the diminution in the 

 Moray Firth represents a general change, and is in proportion to the 

 diminution elsewhere. The decrease in the Moray Firth was common 

 to all the districts, except Findhorn, which shows a slight improvement 

 on the previous year. It was most marked in the districts of Banff, 

 Buckie, and Wick. In Banff the total quantity was 26,675 cwts., as 

 against 36,057 cwts. for the preceding year. In Buckie the total was 

 34,915 cwts., as compared with 41,102 cwts. in 1898 ; while in the 

 Wick district the quantities for the two years were respectively 26,116 

 cwts. and 31,383 cwts. In the districts of Lybster, Helmsdale, and 

 Cromarty the decrease was comparatively slight. The average weight 

 per " shot " of the line also declined in all the districts, except in 

 Helmsdale, where it was the same as in the previous year. In the 

 Lybster district it fell from 3-26 in 1898 to 1-398 in 1899, which is the 

 lowest average for any district in any of the years since 1894. Three 

 of the districts had averages below 2 cwts. per " shot " — an average not 

 represented in any previous 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 

 weight per " shot " for each of the six years are given in the following 

 Table:— 



