282 DEEP-SEA FISHING. 



expense. Thus on the main coast of Scotland, Storno- 

 way, in the Outer Hebrides, is the only Custom House 

 port for registration between Wick on the north-east 

 side and Campbelton on the south-west ; and the popu- 

 lation along this range of coast is very much scattered, 

 and may be said to be almost dependent on fishing 

 for the means of existence. There is, we believe, an 

 admitted uncertainty about all the boats employed in 

 fishing being included in these returns, and perhaps 

 there has not yet been time enough to ensure the com- 

 plete working of the Act, some of the provisions of 

 which are sure to be unpoj^ular with a large portion 

 of the fishermen. On the other hand, there are no 

 doubt many boats on different j^arts of all our coasts 

 which are still on the register, although exempted by 

 the Order in Council of the 18th of June, 1869, they 

 not being usually employed in fishing for purposes of 

 sale ; but how many continue thus improperly on the 

 register, and how many boats are absent which slioukl 

 appear in the returns, it is of course impossible for us 

 to ascertain. 



Among the several districts into which the coast of 

 Scotland is divided by the Customs and the Fishery 

 Board independently, there are only two whose limits 

 are the same under both, viz. Orkney and Shetland. 

 Now, a comparison of the returns for these two districts, 

 taking them together, shows that there were 2409 

 boats of all kinds registered by the Customs over and 

 above the number given by the Fishery Board as 

 specially employed there in the herring and white 

 fisheries ; yet we find there were registered by the 

 Customs, for the whole of Scotland, only 1533 boats 

 more than the number returned by the Fishery Board 

 for their particular fisheries on the same range of coast. 



