XXX 



Part I. — Twenty- fifth Annual Report 



extent, due to the fact that great-line fishing is not now so vigor- 

 ously piosecuted as formerly, the fishermen preferring to follow the 

 herring fishing all the year round. 



Ling. 



The continued improvement in the ling fishing noted in last 

 Annual Report was not maintained in the year under review, the 

 catch of 131,457 cwts. being about 13 per cent, and the value 

 (£43,875) about 8 per cent, lower than in 1905, though the landings 

 were practically identical with those of 1904, and the value some- 

 what higher than in that year. Line fishing still holds an advan- 

 tage over trawling in the capture of ling (though the gap between 

 the catches is rapidly diminishing), and in the year under review 

 was credited with nearly 55 per cent, of the catch and over 61 per 

 cent, of the value. The whole of the decline in the catch and 

 value was referable to line fishing, as the trawl landings showed a 

 slight increase. Most of the falling-off in the catch occurred on 

 the East Coast (the other two sections together contributing only 

 about one- third of it), and was probably due to the same causes 

 which operated in the case of cod. The bulk of the line 

 catch was referable to Aberdeen and Stornoway districts, which 

 respectively contributed 58 per cent, and 24 per cent, of the 

 landings, while Aberdeen accounted for over 92 per cent, of the 

 trawled catch. 



Chart showing I n an accompanying chart there are traced, for the period from 

 Prices of 1893 to 1906, inclusive, the annual prices per cwt. of the three 

 Cod, d ?nd S Linp- more important species of round fish, viz., haddocks, cod, and ling, 

 for 14 Years. ° taken by means of lines and trawls and landed in Scotland. 



With one exception the prices obtained for trawled haddocks 

 exceeded those secured for haddocks taken by line from 1893 to 

 1897, inclusive, after which the line-caught haddocks commanded 

 the higher prices. The line prices ranged from 8s. 3d., obtained in 

 1895, to 14s. 6d., the level reached in 1901 ; while 8s. Id. repre- 

 sented the minimum trawl price, secured in 1895, and 12s. lOd. 

 the maximum, attained in 1900. The excesses in line over 

 trawl prices in a given year ranged from 2d., the amcv.it brought 

 out in the case of 1895, to 2s. 10d., the excess in 1903 ; while the 

 excesses in trawl over line prices varied from 2d. to Is. 9d. 



Up to and including 1897 the prices obtained for trawled cod 

 were higher than those secured for cod taken by lines — the 

 excesses ranging from 2d. to 2s. 4d. per cwt. — but thereafter, 

 excepting in the cases of 1900 and 1901, when the trawl were 9d. 

 in advance of the line prices, there was a more remunerative 

 market for line-caught cod, the excesses varying between a mini- 

 mum of 2d. and a maximum of Is. 7d. During the period reviewed 

 the line prices ranged from 6s. 7d. to ] 0s. Id., and the trawl prices 

 from 6s. 9d. to 9s. lid. 



As regards ling, in the first six years the prices per cwt. of those 

 taken by trawl showed a premium, but the position was reversed 

 during the remainder of the period, excepting in 1901, when line 

 and trawl prices were equal. The prices of line-caught ling ranged 

 from 5s. 2d. to 7s. 6cl, and those of trawled ling from 5s. 5d. to 8s. 



