XXX 



Thirtieth Annual Report 



It will be observed that, notwithstanding the increase in the catch, 

 the value declined by nearly £15,000. This decrease is wholly 

 referable to the trawl catches, and is hardly to be wondered at when 

 the extent to which small haddocks figured in the aggregate landings 

 is considered. The average price per cwt. works out at 10s. 2d., as 

 compared with lis. 6d. in 1910. 



God. 



Next to haddocks, cod are the most important contributor to the 

 food supply. In 1910, indeed, the supplies of this species for the 

 first time exceeded those of haddocks, although the latter regained 

 pride of place during the year under review. The catch again shows 

 an increase, if a slight one, the landings amounting to 985,626 cwts., 

 as against 980,228 cwts. in 1910, but the financial returns were less 

 satisfactory, the value having fallen from £409,456 to £398,465. Of 

 the quantity, trawlers contributed 710,919 cwts., or 72 per cent., as 

 compared with 678,533 cwts., or 69 per cent., in the preceding year, 

 the bulk of the increase, as might be expected, being referable to 

 Aberdeen, although the Granton trawlers improved considerably upon 

 their previous year's operations. Liners, both steam and sail, were 

 more successful than in 1910, the quantity taken by this method 

 amounting to 230,194 cwts., as compared with 214,996 cwts. in the 

 preceding year, of which sailing vessels contributed 69 per cent, and 

 steam-liners 31 per cent. The increase in the landings of steam 

 vessels (7000 cwts.) was due to the greater success achieved in 

 Shetland, Stornoway, and Fort- William districts, the landings of the 

 Aberdeen vessels having fallen off. The sailing-line catch advanced by 

 8000 cwts. — an increase which w r as largely due to the excellent results 

 obtained in Helmsdale, Shetland, and Peterhead districts at hand -line 

 (ripper) fishing. This method of capturing cod was very successful, 

 and those fishermen who pursued it had a lucrative season, as a 

 perusal of the officers' annual reports (Appendix L) will show. 

 There was a big falling off in the quantity taken by nets, the catch 

 by this method having fallen from 86,699 cwts. to 45,413 cwts., a 

 result which was due to the comparative failure of the spring cod-net 

 fishing in the Moray Firth, where the shoals appeared to be much 

 less abundant than usual. 



The falling off in value was due principally to the frequent 

 glutting of the market by the heavy supplies landed by German 

 trawlers from Iceland. 



Ling. 



Ling is caught chiefly by lines, and, so far as this species is con- 

 cerned, line-fishing is more than holding its own against trawling, the 

 catch by the latter method having fallen from 73.880 cwts. to 65,069 

 cwts., whereas line-caught fish increased from 153,081 cwts. to 167,110 

 cwts. during the year under review. The major part of this increase 

 falls to be credited to the Aberdeen fleet of steam liners, whose catch 

 of 118,146 cwts. represents an increase of 15 per cent, upon the 

 preceding year's figures. The Shetland line catch also shows a sub- 

 stantial increase (4955 cwts., or 81 per cent.), a result which is due to 



