of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



27 



cwts. in 1898 and 5833 cwts. in 1899, showing an increase of 16G4 

 cwts. 



An examination of the statistics dealing with the number of shots " 

 of the line-fishing boats in the Iv.oray Firth — that is, the number of 

 visits to the fishing grounds — shows that during last year there was an 

 increase in the case of both the large boats and the small boats as com- 

 pared with the previous year. The figures for the whole of the Moray 

 Firth in each of the six years are these : — 





1894 



1895 



1896 



1897 



1898 



1899 



Large Boats, . 



7,082 



7,710 



11,915 



14,039 



10,330 



12,665 



Small Boats, . 



54,866 



50,643 



48,346 



48,836 



41,853 



42,808 





61,948 



58,353 



60,261 



62,875 



52,183 



55,473 



It will be observed that while the number of "shots" of the small- 

 line boats has steadily declined over the period, the number of "shots" 

 of the great-line boats increased from 1894 to 1897, and that the con- 

 siderable fall in 1898 was partly made up last year. On the whole, 

 however, line-fishing in the Moray Firth has declined during the last 

 two years. The detailed statistics for each of the districts are as 

 follows : — 



Year. 



Wick. 



Lybster. 



Helmsdale. 



Cromarty. 



Findhorn. 



Buckie. 



Banff. 



CD 

 60 



CS 



go 



CD 

 5D 

 U 



Hi 



GO 



95 

 iC 



GO 



CD 



S3 



cS 



3 



GQ 



frfD 



GO 



CD 

 bC 



cS 



s 



CO 



CD 



fee 



« 

 h-1 



GO 



1894 

 1895 

 1896 

 1897 

 1898 

 1899 



396 

 1,553 

 2,774 

 3,911 

 1,918 

 1,865 



7,295 

 4,155 

 3,063 

 3,266 

 2,846 

 3,249 



22 

 90 

 208 

 264 

 148 

 1,932 



876 

 965 

 1,266 

 1,440 

 1,211 

 1,149 



199 



366 

 363 

 466 

 448 

 382 



4,288 

 3,614 

 3,535 

 3,010 

 2,971 

 2,930 



83 

 12 

 13 

 3 

 2 

 61 



6,S71 

 6,561 

 6,078 

 5,918 

 6,015 

 6,146 



3,132 

 2,653 

 3,772 

 4,738 

 4,148 

 5,377 



10,544 

 11,481 

 10,450 

 12,810 

 10,577 

 10,883 



2,422 

 1,929 

 2,935 

 2,537 

 1,958 

 1,!»4« 



9,104 

 8,907 

 8,420 

 7,943 

 7,727 

 8,476 



828 

 1,107 

 1,850 

 2,120 

 1,708 

 1,108 



15,888 

 14,930 

 15,534 

 14,449 

 10,506 

 9,975 



In the Cromarty and Findhorn districts, the number of " shots " of 

 both great and small-line boats increased ; in Banff and Helmsdale 

 districts there was a decrease in both ; in Buckie and Wick districts the 

 "shots" of large-line boats slightly decreased and those of small-line 

 boats increased ; and in Lybster district there was a great increase in 

 the "shots" of the large line-boats and a slight decrease in those of the 

 small-line boats. It may be added that the operations of a considerable 

 number of foreign trawlers within the Moray Firth during the past 

 few years must materially affect the results of the trawling investiga- 

 tions there. In 1895 and 1896 a single foreign trawler was engaged in 

 fishing in the Moray Firth ; in the next year there were seven 

 observed frequenting it ; and the number increased to 32 in 1898, and 

 to 52 in 1899. 



T. WEMYSS FULTON, 



Scientific Superintendent. 



