Ix 



Fourth Annual Heiport of the 



Tlie Turbot 

 Fishery. 



The Halibut 

 Fishery. 



The Sole 

 Fishery. 



The Flounder, 

 Plaice, and 

 Brill Fisheries. 



The Skate 

 Fishery. 



Other White 

 Fisheries. 



The Oyster 

 Fishery. 



The Mussel 

 Fishery. 



valued at £38,551. This was an increase on the previous 

 year's fishing of 28,131 cwts. in quantity, and £5743 in value. 

 The districts where this fish was most plentiful were Leith, 

 Aberdeen, Montrose, and Eyemouth. 



Turbot are never got in great abundance in Scotland, but a few 

 are usually taken in most of the districts. The total catch last year 

 amounted to 7350 cwts., the value of which was £13,535, being an 

 increase on 1884 of 3116 cwts. in quantity, and £4167 in value. 

 The districts which yielded the largest quantities were Stornoway, 

 Leith, and Aberdeen. 



The quantity of halibut taken last year was 28,427 cwts., 

 valued at £20,053, being an increase on the previous year of 

 5377 cwts. in quantity, and £2429 in value. More than half of the 

 season's fishing was got at Shetland and Orkney, the former having 

 yielded 13,430 cwts. and the latter 2331 cwts. Stornoway pro- 

 duced 4699 cwts. Nearly the whole catch of these three districts 

 was sent to the markets in ice. 



Soles (lemon sole) are found in only a few of the districts. The 

 total catch last year amounted to 5898 cwts., valued at £7486, 

 being greater than that of 1884, by 1735 cwts. in quantity, and 

 £1897 in value. More than one-half of the gross catch was landed 

 at Aberdeen, and there was also good fishing in the districts of 

 Fraserburgh and Montrose. 



The total catch last year of flounders, plaice, and brill amounted 

 to 83,810 cwts., valued at £52,864, being 11,052 cwts., more than 

 in the previous year in quantity, and £5142 in value. The districts 

 which contributed the largest quantities were Aberdeen (in which 

 was got more than one-third of the whole catch), Leith, Montrose. 

 Ballantrae, and Eyemouth. 



Skate are more or less found over all the coast. The quantity 

 landed last year was 106,552 cwts., valued at £15,765. This was 

 an increase on 1884 of 44,570 cwts. in quantity, and £1594 in 

 value. The districts where the best fishing was got were Storno- 

 way (which contributed more than one-half of the whole quantity 

 landed), Shetland, Leith, Buckie, and Aberdeen. 



Of other kinds of white fish, such as bream, gurnard, hake, and 

 cat-fish, the total quantity landed last year amounted to 74,223 

 cwts., valued at £23,476, showing an increase on the preceding 

 year's catch of 17,750 cwts. in quantity, and £4338 in value. 



The whole oyster fisheries on the coasts of Scotland yielded only 

 2202 hundreds in 1885, valued at £809 ; the preceding year pro- 

 duced 5176 hundreds, the value of which was £2174. During 1885 

 this fishing may be said to have been prosecuted in only three 

 districts, viz. : — Leith, Stornoway, and Ballantrae, of which the last 

 yielded more than one-half of the gross take of the year. 



The total quantity of mussels taken in 1885 was 244,262 cwts., 

 valued at £15,367, being a decrease from the preceding year's fishing 

 of 5086 cwts. in quantity, and £695 in value. This decrease may 

 be attributed to herrings having been more largely used instead of 

 mussels for bait in 1885, than in the previous year. The principal 

 mussel scalps are in the Firth of Clyde, the Firth of Forth, the Firth 

 of Tay, the Moray Firth, and in Montrose district, but there are also 

 scalps at a great many other places, particularly on the West Coast. 



