of the Fishery Board for Scotland, 



37 



No. II. — continued. 



Methods of 

 Fishing Pursued. 



Lines and crab 

 creels. 



Position of 

 Principal Fishing 

 Grounds. 



1 to 4 miles off. 



Quantity and Value of 



Fish Landed 

 (excluding Shell Fish). 



Value of principal kinds 



Shell Fish 

 Taken 



Cuts. 



100 



Drift nets and 1 to 70 miles 

 lines. 



Crab creels and 

 lines. 



2,446 



20(5 



53 



of Fish Landed. 



Crabs and 

 codlings 



1 924 



177 



13,163 



Herrings, cod, 

 haddocks, and 

 whitings". 



672 



215 



14,523 



Codlings and 

 haddocks. 



Haddocks and 

 whitings. 



,341 



General Remarks. 



\ For the last ten or twelve 

 years the fishing in- 

 dustry at these villages 

 has been declining. 

 This year's catch of 

 haddocks, whitings 

 and crabs shows a 

 slight improvement on 

 that of 1905, but there 

 is apparently little 

 hope of any permanent 

 improvement. The 

 haddock fishery which 

 once nourished here 

 now gives but meagre 

 returns, these fish hav- 

 ing become very scarce 

 on the inshore grounds. 

 The fishermen's ener- 

 gies are now, therefore, 

 almost entirely turned 

 to crab fishing, and the 

 grounds 1 to 3 miles off 

 afford, from April to 

 September, a fairly 

 good supply of crabs, 

 which are s£nt daily by 

 the fishermen them- 

 selves direct to the 

 English markets. 



The fisheries at Stone- 

 haven have also de- 

 creased during the last 

 derade. The herring 

 fishing is still carried 

 on by ;»bout 20 sail boats, 

 and in common with the 

 whole East Coast, the 

 catch and earnings in 

 this particular were 

 better this year than for 

 many preceding. The 

 earnings from herrings 

 and line fish were just 

 about equal — respec- 

 tively about £6000. A 

 new breakwater, enclos- 

 ing a considerable area 

 of stife harbourage, has 

 now almost been com- 

 pleted, and this gives 

 hope that the facilities 

 it provides will encour- 

 age the fishermen, as »t 

 other centres, to acquire 

 steam drifters. 



