of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



xlv 



Year. 



East Coast. 



Orkney and 

 Shetland. 



West Coast. 



Total. 



Average 

 Price per 

 Barrel. 



1895 



£971,975 



£239,518 



£159,738 



£1,371,231 



s. d. 

 18 0 



1896 



721,383 



194,918 



193,684 



1,109,985 



14 10^ 



1897 



625,557 



226,161 



196,491 



1,048,209 



21 2 



1898 



905,447 



236,043 



240,656 



1,382,146 



15 4 



1899 



835,956 



507,512 



370,450 



1,713,918 



29 2 



1900 



823 106 



542,099 



299,469 



1,664,674 



26 7 



1901 



739,905 



686,965 



277,920 



1,704,790 



21 3 



1902 



1,235,617 



577,531 



300,886 



2,114,034 



23 5 



1903 



1,005,328 



510,023 



272,073 



1,787,424 



22 1 



1904 



891,841 



689,439 



234,819 



1,816,099 



17 n 



1905 



939,684 



1,041,855 



247,875 



2,229,414 



•21 H 



1906 



1,329,086 



985,670 



230,586 



2,545,342 



25 5| 



Returns since 

 1895. 



II. — Cod, Ling, Haddocks, &c. 



Although the cod-smoking industry suffered a slight relapse General 

 last year, the quantity cured dried shows a decided improvement Resnlt *- 

 over the returns of the preceding year, as did also, in a lesser 

 degree, the pickling branch of the industry. The total returns 

 were 124,522 cwts. smoked (decrease 29,821 cwts.), 81,967 cwts. 

 dried (increase 16,258 cwts.), and 1741 barrels pickled (increase 

 541 barrels). (Appendix D, No. I.) The quantity of fresh fish 

 which yielded this result was 384,742 cwts., or 53 per cent, of the 

 total catch. The principal centres of the drying industry were Princi , 

 Aberdeen (40,724 cwts.), Orkney (26,920 cwts.), and Shetland CeS* for 

 (8300 cwts.). The latter was at one time the principal centre, but Drying Cod - 

 with the decline of the famous Faroe and Iceland cod fishery, 

 which was engaged in by local curing smacks, that district has lost 

 its position. Last year only three local smacks were fitted out for 

 that fishing, and two of these were manned by Faroese crews, but 

 a number of Faroese vessels landed their catches in Shetland and 

 contributed materially to the increase in the returns of dried cod. 



The returns of pickled cod show a slight improvement, but that Pickled Cod. 

 branch of the industry is now of little importance. 



The most important branch is that of cod-smoking or " filleting," Cod "Smok- 

 over 124,500 cwts. being preserved in this way last year. This is ing " Industr y- 

 a falling-off of 29,821 cwts. as compared with the returns for 1905. 

 Smoking is perhaps scarcely a correct description of the process of 

 preserving employed, as the fish are first filleted and then subjected 

 to a treatment which gives them the appearance of having been 

 smoked, and the result is so attractive to the eye as well as to the 

 palate that the demand for "smoked" cod in the large towns is greatly 

 on the increase. The bulk of the " filleted " fish consists of trawled 

 fish, and emanates from Aberdeen. 



