ON THE ENGLISH SEA FISHERIES. 67 
HERRING. 
The herring fishery is the first great one which claims our 
attention. It is one of immense importance to the country. In 
Scotland and the Isle of Man, according to the returns of the 
Commissioners of British Fisheries, there were in 1861 42,751 
fishermen and boys, 997 fish curers, 1,880 coopers, and 46,456 
other persons, or a grand total of 92,084 people directly depend- 
ant on this fishery. ‘The number of boats employed was 12,961, 
and their registered tonnage 94,154 tons. The estimated value 
of the boats, lines, and nets, was £783,037. In a return which 
I have obtained, | find that the take of herrings on the east coast 
of Scotland—that is from Northumberland to the Lewis—was, 
in 1852, 484,055 crans, and the value would be upwards of 
£600,000. 
From Orkney to Northumberland 5,277 boats were engaged 
in the fishery last season. Wick is the head quarters of the 
Scotch herring fishery. From returns furnished to me, I find 
that the take per boat has been most materially decreasing there. 
Taking the average from 1836 to 1862, twenty-six years, I find 
that it would be about 105 crans per boat; but for the last six 
years it has only averaged 82 crans per boat. During the 
twenty years preceding 1856, on only three occasions did the 
average per boat fall below 100 crans; thus shewing a gradually 
decreasing return for the labour expended. Thisis the case with 
nearly every kind and sort of fishery in England. The total 
quantity exported from Wick was about 105,000 barrels. 
The Customs Returns give the total export of herrings from 
the United Kingdom to Prussia, Hanover, and other countries, 
during 1862, as having been 510,411 barrels, of the declared 
value of £690,849. 
There is no possibility of obtaining any accurate information 
of the herring fishery around the English coasts; but itis a very 
valuable one, and gives employment to some thousands of fisher- 
men during several weeks in the year. The chief stations are in 
Northumberland, the Yorkshire coast, and Yarmouth. The 
mode of fishing is everywhere by drift nets. These are nets 
which hang perpendicularly in the stream, sustained by floats 
VOL. VI. PT, I. I 
