24 



Part III. — Eighteenth Annual Report 



FISH. 



1894. 



1895. 



1896. 



1897. 



1898. 



1859. 



























Cwts. 



Aver- 



Cwts. 



Aver- 



Cwts. 



Aver- 



Cwts. 



Aver- 



Cwts. 



Aver- 



Cwts. 



Aver- 





age. 



age. 



age. 



age. 



age. 



age. 



<UOCl - 



32,571 



0-52 



47,646 



0-81 



64,663 







1-07 



79,731 







1-26 



56,208 







1-07 



52,753 



0-95 



Ling^ 



2,169 



0-035 



2,937 



0-005 



3,868 



0-062 



3,544 



0-056 



2,567 



0-049 



2,883 



0-052 





25 



0-002 



24 





94 





25 





43 





82 







6,120 



0-09 



5,083 



0-087 



10,636 



0-17 



11,761 



0-18 



14,881 



0-28 



9,383 



0-169 



Haddock 



153 529 



2 "47 



178 370 



3'056 



156 703 



2'6 



1 Oft f )Q1 



2 "004 



81 098 



1*554 



68 075 



1'229 



Whiting 



5^845 



0-094 



5^114 



0-087 



4^836 



0-08 



3,319 



0-052 



1^535 



0-029 



1,'323 



0-023 



Turbot - 



5 









15 





16 





13 





60 





Halibut - 



254 



0-004 



403 



0-007 



691 



o-oii 



707 



o-oii 



730 



0-013 



762 



0*013 



Lemon Sole - 











19 





14 





1 





6 





"Flounder, Plaice, 



























and Brill " 



5,477 



0-088 



5,765 



0-09 



3,402 



0-056 



3,978 



0-063 



3,425 



0065 



5,005 



0*09 



Conger - 



1,244 



0-02 



777 



0-013 



823 



0-013 



1,533 



0-024 



826 



0-015 



741 



0*013 



Skate - 



3,281 



0-053 



3,014 



0-051 



3,683 



0-061 



3,999 



0-063 



3,273 



0-062 



3,584 



0*064 



Other kinds - 



7,976 



0-128 



9,456 



0-16 



7,483 



0-12 



6,663 



0-105 



4,574 



0-087 



3,116 



0*056 



More than four-fifths of the total quantity caught by line within the 

 area consisted of cod and haddocks, and both of these show a diminu- 

 tion as compared with the previous year. The decrease in cod was 

 comparatively slight, amounting for the year to 3415 cwts. — the aver- 

 age catch falling from 1*07 to 0*95 cwts. This decrease was common to 

 all the districts, except Lybster and Findhorn. When the statistics for 

 each of the six years are examined it is seen that there was a gradual 

 rise both in the gross quantity and in the average per "shot" from 1894 

 to 1897, and since then a decline. 



The averages for each district in each year are as follows . — 



District. 



1894. 



1895. 



1896. 



1897. 



1898. 



1899. 



Wick, - - 



0-99 



1-83 



3-22 



4-16 



3-23 



2-75 



Lybster, 



1-92 



1-79 



1-71 



2-47 



1-89 



0-88 



Helmsdale, - 



0-75 



1-31 



2-01 



2-39 



1-90 



1-57 



Cromarty, 



0-59 



0-617 



074 



0-61 



0-63 



0-51 



Findhorn, - 



0-48 



0-75 



0-85 



0-52 



0-55 



0-61 



Buckie, 



0-55 



10 



1*3 



1-68 



1-34 



1-21 



Banff, - 



0*13 



0-2 



0*22 



0-41 



0-53 



0-44 



In all the districts the average shows a decline from the previous 

 year, except in the district of Findhorn, where a slight increase 

 occuired in the averages as well as in the total quantity. 



The diminution of the quantity of haddocks caught by line in the 

 Moray Firth is still more noteworthy. In 1898 the quantity landed 

 was 81,098 cwts., while last year it was only 68,075 cwts., or a falling- 

 off of nearly 14,000 cwts. The average per " shot" also declined from 

 1-554 to l - 229 cwts. The fluctuations in the abundance of this 

 important food -fish from year to year have been very considerable. In 

 1894 the quantity caught by line in the Moray Firth was 153,529 

 cwts. ; in 1895 it rose to 178,370 cwts., and since then it declined to 

 156,703 cwts. in 1896, to 126,031 cwts. in 1897, to 81,098 cwts. in 

 1898, and to 68,075 cwts. last year. The average per " shot " has varied 

 in much the same way. In 1894 it was 2*47 cwts. ; in 1895, 3*056 

 cwts.; in 1896, 2*6 cwts. ; in 1897, 2-0 cwts.; in 1898, 1*554 cwts.; and 

 last year 1*229 cwts., or little more than a third of what it was in 1895. 

 The decrease last year as compared with the previous year took place in 



