of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 
29 
Leith district. The average per 1 shot ' for other white fish decreased from 
0*19 cwts. in 1888 to 0*14 cwts. in 1889. The decrease occurred in the 
Anstruther, Montrose, and Stonehaven districts. In the Leith district there 
was a large increase from 0*009 cwts. per 1 shot ' in 1888 to 0*14 cwts. in 
1889. 
All the territorial waters of these districts were closed to beam-trawling 
by the Herring Fisheries (Scotland) Act, which came into force on 26th J uly, 
1889. The results of a comparison between the averages for a month in 
1888 and 1889, for the areas open and closed, would be of no value, owing 
to the brief periods comparable. But comparison may be made between 
the Leith and Anstruther districts, which have been closed since 1886, 
and the Stonehaven district, which was only closed last year. When 
this is done, it appears there was a slightly greater relative increase of cod 
in the Stonehaven district than in the southern districts, although the 
increase in the Anstruther district was also large. The decrease of 
haddocks was somewhat more marked in the Stonehaven district ; there 
was a large increase in the Leith district. Whitings increased in the 
Stonehaven district and diminished slightly in the southern districts. 
Lemon soles and flounders decreased relatively more in the Stonehaven 
district than in Leith and Anstruther districts. In Stonehaven district 
skate and turbot diminished much more than in the two districts south, 
as did also ' other white fish.' 
Mr William Mair, the Fishery Officer at Anstruther, has kept a record 
during the past two years of the amounts of haddocks and whitings 
captured within the territorial and extra-territorial waters, by the boats 
fishing from his district. The results are shown in the following table. 
Year. 
Caught within the 
Enclosed Area. 
Caught outside the 
Enclosed Area. 
Total. 
Haddocks. 
Whitings. 
Haddocks. 
Whitings. 
Haddocks. 
Whitings. 
1888. 
1889. 
cwts. 
18,419 
12,499 
cwts. 
1,800 
1,972 
cwts. 
17,862 
19,405 
cwts. 
1,131 
1,645 
cwts. 
36,281 
31,904 
cwts. 
2,931 
3,617 
Increase. 
Decrease. 
5,920 
172 
1,543 
514 
4,377 
686 
The decrease in the inshore haddock fishing is explained by Mr Mair 
to have been coincident with the failure in the winter herring fishing 
in the Firth of Forth ; haddocks enter the Forth usually in large 
numbers in succession to the herring shoals. 
3. Buckhaven Haddock and Cod Line Fishing. 
The statistics of this fishery have now been collected since 1884. Those 
for 1888 and 1889 are given on p. 121, and represent the numbers of 
cod, of large haddocks, and of small haddocks and whiting caught by 
Buckhaven boats in the territorial waters, with the average number of fish 
per 4 shot ' in each month of the year. 
