24 



Part III. — Twenty-fifth Annual Report 



These figures show the gradual decline in the quantity cured on vessels 

 and the increase of those cured on shore, but an examination of the 

 Table giving the annual quantities indicates that after 1889 a change 

 took place in the method of the returns, particularly in reference to the 

 quantity given as cured on shore. . Thus, in 1889 the quantity so cured 

 was returned as 84,967 barrels, while in the following year it is given as 

 7,773 barrels. Before that date it seems that the herrings which were 

 not cured were included in the totals — that is to say, the herrings which 

 were sold fresh — but there is nothing to show for how many years previ- 

 ously this method was adopted. From another table (Table III., p. 108) 

 which was published in the Annual Reports for the years 1843 to 1857, 

 and which purported to show the total catch of herrings landed in each 

 district, distinguishing those cured from those which were not cured, it 

 appears that the latter were not included up to 1857, and the evidence 

 of the detailed table indicates that the change was probably made in 

 1879, the herrings sold fresh being apparently included in the totals in 

 that year and afterwards till 1889. There is, however, no certainty on 

 the point. 



The fluctuations in the quantities from year to year are shown in the 

 detailed table (Table I.), and the minimum and maximum numbers of 

 barrels cured in each decade are as follows : — 



Minimum ^ ^ j Maximum Total 

 On Vessels. On Shore. 0 a * On Vessels. On Shore. 



37,597 81,958 11,940 86,119 



30,044 68,159 10,421 78,581 



42,917 63,376 12,616 67,803 



43,519 72,494 13,630 81,036 



40,423 51,804 34,367 75,560 



38,988 41.634 113,955 138,053 



32,408 36,619 83,794 119,095 



69,433 46,818 136,057 182,875 



1,483 18,166 84,967 103,133 



21,031 591 37,360 37,600 



1809- 



-1818 



32,261 



1915 



1819- 



-1828 



26,307 



1484 



1829- 



-1838 



40,134 



1635 



1839- 



-1848 



31,899 



4441 



1849- 



-1858 



19,353 



14,960 



1859- 



-1868 



16,591 



20,848 

 25,294 



1869- 



-1878 



6,089 



1879- 



-1888 



2,906 



60,477 



1889- 



-1898 



1,483 



1899- 



-1906 





21,031 



The remark made above as to the inclusion of fish sold fresh among 

 the cured herrings in some of the years applies also to this table ; it is 

 therefore uncertain how far the figures can be taken as showing the 

 fluctuations in the yield of the fishery. 



For the district of Inveraray, which is the chief one to which attention 

 must be directed, a similar summary has been made, showing the average 

 annual number of barrels cured in each decade since 1809, with the 

 maximum and the minimum quantity for each of these periods. The 

 Table is as follows : — 



[Table. 



