36 



Part III, — Twenty-first Annual Report 





r3 



o 

 O 



25 



Codling. 



Had- 

 dock. 



Whit- 

 ing. 



Gur- 

 nard. 



Plaice. 



Lemon 

 Sole. 



Common 

 Dab. 



Brill. 



Thorn- 

 back. 



Angler. 



Total. 



I. 



II. 



311 

 39 



2,382 

 42 



16 

 12 



555 

 127 



8,591 

 1,086 



42 

 2 



299 

 4,473 



23 -40 



1 



. i . 



19 



12,284 

 5,800 





25 



350 



2,424 



28 



682 



9,677 



44 



4,772 



23 40 



19 



18,084 



Av. per hour, 



0-8 



11-1 



76-9 



0-9 



21-6 



310-4 



1-4 



151-5 



0-7 



1-4 



0-6 



574-1 



It will be seen that plaice occupied first position with a total of 9677, 

 of which 8591 were marketable ; dabs followed with 4772, comparatively- 

 few being marketable, the third place being occupied by haddocks with 

 a total of 2424, all save forty-two being marketable. Whitings were 

 very poorly represented, the total being only twenty-eight, but gurnards 

 were abundant, and the number of brill was considerable, viz. twenty- 

 three. It may be of interest to compare the average catch of the 

 marketable fish per hour's fishing with the corresponding averages 

 for Burghead Bay on the south coast, and I place them here in 

 conjunction : — 





Cod. 



Codling. 



Had- 

 dock. 





Gur- 

 nard. 



Thorn- 

 back. 



Plaice. 



Lemon 

 Sole. 



5 



o& 

 O 



Brill. 



Witch. 



Burghead Bay, 



01 



8-0 



252-8 



4-4 



24-2 



1-4 



216-5 



2-0 



42-7 



0-8 



6-2 



Dornoch Firth, . 



0-8 



9 9 



75-6 



0-5 



17-6 



1-4 



272-7 



1-3 



9-5 



07 





In the case of gurnards and common dabs the comparison of the 

 marketable fishes alone may not accurately represent the true pro- 

 portions caught, because the selection of these cheap varieties may 

 differ. 



The proportions of the various selections of the plaice and haddocks 

 taken in the Dornoch Firth in the hauls in question are these: — 



Plaice. Haddock. 



1st, . - - - 262 1.630 



2nd, - - - - 1,398 234 



3rd, - - - - 2,424 518 



4th, . - - - 4,507 — 



8,591 2,382 



If compared with the similar figures for Burghead Bay (p. 34), the great 

 diflference in the proportion of large and small haddocks in the two 

 places is apparent. In the former locality the percentage of small 

 plaice was sixty-seven, while in the Dornoch it was 80*7 ; the percentage 

 of small haddocks at Burghead Bay was ninety-seven, and at the 

 Dornoch it was 24*3. 



The results in the Dornoch Firth did not show any diminution of the 

 catches in the later hauls such as was exhibited at Burghead Bay. On 

 the contrary, the later hauls were rather more productive than the 

 earlier ones. Thus the first three, which lasted altogether for thirteen 



