of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



17 





Cod. 



Codling'. 



Hfiddock. 



Whiting. 



Gurnard. 



Coal-fish. 



I. 



II. 



39 



10 



6 

 3 



24 



66 



1 





39 



10 



9 



24 



66 



1 





PlcliCG. 



Lemon 

 Dab. 



Common 

 Dab. 



Brill. 



Flounder. 



Long 

 I^ough 

 Dab. 



T. 

 II. 



1,073 

 20 



1 



1,196 

 689 



1 



18 

 12 



8 





1,093 



1 



1,885 



1 



30 



8 



There were also taken fifteen grey skates, eight thornbacks, and fifty-six 

 starry rays, as well as 109 anglers and six herring. 



A haul for sixty-five minutes was also made at the Dog Hole, off 

 Aberdeen, in fifty-five fathoms, and 133 fishes were taken in the otter- 

 net, 122 being marketable. The marketable catch comprised one cod, 

 fifteen codling, twenty four haddocks, twenty whitings, two ling, a 

 saithe, four plaice, forty-two lemon dabs, two common dabs, and eleven 

 megrims, and there were also seven unmarketable starry rays, one grey 

 skate, and three anglers. The small-meshed net around the otter-trawl 

 contained a number of small whitings, haddocks, a few codling, two 

 gurnards, a small angler, and an armed bull-head. 



On the 15th the vessel began work in the Moray Firth, the first haul 

 being made at Burghead Bay in from ten to fifteen fathoms, and it 

 lasted for four hours. The catch comprised 1319 fishes, 1043 of which 

 were marketable and 276 unmarketable. Among the former were four 

 cod, four codlings, 349 haddocks — fifty-one large, forty-six medium, and 

 252 small, — forty-seven whitings, seventy-six gurnards, and five cat- 

 fishes. Plaice numbered 322, the majority being small, and there were 

 nine lemon dabs, 160 common dabs, and fifty-nine witches, as well as 

 one brill. The unmarketable consisted mostly of dabs, with some 

 gurnards and whitings. Although the number of fishes was fairly 

 large the catch was not a valuable one, owing to the paucity of good 

 haddocks and plaice. 



A second drag in the same locality, although yielding a somewhat 

 greater number of fishes, was not more profitable. The total was 1680, 

 of which 1294 were marketable and 386 unmarketable. The haddocks 

 numbered 264, but there were only sixty large and twenty mediums 

 among them, the remainder - being small. Of 419 plaice taken, only 

 nine were large and thirty-three medium. There were also two cod, 

 ten cat-fishes, six witches, four lemon dabs, and 537 marketable common 

 dabs. The bulk of the unmarketable fishes consisted of dabs, gurnards, 

 and anglers, of which thirty-seven were caught. 



The vessel then shifted its ground westwards to off the Suters of 

 Cromarty, where a haul for two hours and forty-five minutes in from 

 eight to twelve fathoms of water yielded only 784 fishes, of which 633 

 were marketable. The principal result of the change was an increase 

 in the number of codlings and witches taken and a few more haddocks, 

 but plaice were scarcer than before, totalling only seventy-nine, of 



B 



