xxxii Part I. — Twenty -fifth Annual Report 



Gurnards, Cat-fish, Monks (Anglers), and Hake. 



Gurnards, cat-fish, and anglers are of little importance as 

 contributors to the food supply, although in recent years 

 attempts to place them on the market cured in fillets 

 have met with considerable success. The aggregate catch of 

 these three species in 1906 was 43,495 cwts., or about 3000 

 cwts. more than in 1905, while the value (£10,170) exceeded 

 the preceding year's total by over £1000. Practically the whole 

 of the catch was landed by trawlers at East Coast trawling ports, 

 principally Aberdeen. The total quantity of hake landed was 

 25,375 cwts., valued at £16,106, as compared with 34,220 cwts. 

 and £16,595 in 1905. While, therefore, the catch (which was 

 almost entirely landed by trawlers at Aberdeen) showed a con- 

 siderable decrease, there was little variation in the gross value 

 realised. 



(h) FLAT-FISH. 



The total quantity of flat-fish landed during 1906 was 183,927 

 cwts., valued at £279,911, these figures representing a decrease in 

 quantity to the extent of 4470 cwts., but an increase in value of 

 no less than £16,087. Towards the decline in the catch both line 

 fish and trawl fish contributed in the ratio of about 7 to 4, while 

 their respective contributions towards the increase in value were 

 in the ratio of 1 to 4. Trawlers contributed nearly 75 per cent, 

 of the total catch and about 80 per cent, of the value, these pro- 

 portions showing little variation from those of the preceding year. 



Plaice. 



From the point of view of the food supply, plaice are the princi- 

 pal kind of flat-fish landed. The total catch in 1906 was 58,830 

 cwts., valued at £80,251, there being an increase of about 4£ per 

 cent, in the quantity and of about 4 per cent, in the value as com- 

 pared with the figures for 1905. Over 83 per cent, of the catch was 

 landed by trawlers, while the proportion of their value amounted 

 to nearly 90 per cent., the higher relative price thus indicated for 

 trawled fish being due mainly to the greater competition and the 

 greater facilities for distribution at trawling ports. The great 

 bulk of the trawled catch was landed at Aberdeen and Leith, which 

 conjointly contributed about 91 per cent, of the quantity and 93 

 per cent, of the value. As regards the line catch, almost the whole 

 of it, in the ratio of 3 to 1, was landed on the East and West 

 Coasts, Anstruther, Cromarty, Helmsdale, and Montrose in the 

 former division, and Ballantrae in the latter being the chief con- 

 tributors. 



Flounders. 



Flounders, unlike the other smaller types of flat-fish, are caught 

 chiefly by lines, and of the total catch of 1.4,953 cwts., this method 

 accounted for over three-fifths. As regards value, however, line- 

 caught flounders realised rather less than one-half of the total of 



