13 



December of last j^ear huge catches of herrings were continually 

 caught in Loch Glen Dhu, north of Stoer Head. A big fleet of 

 boats fished there, and the herrings did not once " take off " until the 

 end of December. The fish are usually of the mattie class, and 

 have an average length of about nine inches, but often full and 

 large herrings are caught amongst them. The general belief 

 amongst the fishermen is that the herrings are immature and weak, 

 and take to the narrow waters for protection. From the size 

 (Table III., page 59) they are probably fish, the majority of which 

 are at the end of their second year, and their presence is due to an 

 inshore or loch migration, similar to that which giv^es a fishing 

 for young herrings in the Firths of Forth and Tay at about the 

 same time of the year. 



From Mallaig quantities of herrings are generally sent away 

 during December. A number of these were seen in the curing 

 house of Messrs. Woodger & Son, of North Shields. The fish had 

 the general appearance of recovering spents. There was a small 

 number of filling fish amongst them, and a few too small for curing, 

 being about 20 cm. long. An examination of the gonads whilst 

 splitting was in progress showed the majority of the herrings to 

 be at stage II. of development. Very few were at stages III. and 

 IV., and the smaller fish were, without excei:>tion, virgins at stage 

 I. These fish were therefore recovering from an autumn spaA^ning. 

 Apart from the time of the year they are similar to the herrings 

 caught off North Shields in April and May, which have doubtless 

 come from the spring spawning shoals of the Firth of Forth, and 

 to the herrings caught off the Butt of Lewis in May, a sample of 

 which was examined in 1919, and consisted chiefly of fish with 

 gonads at stage II. As a rule these shoals of recovering spents 

 are said by the fishermen to be very " spotty " or " patch}^" and 

 one vessel may get a very good catch, whilst vessels on either side 

 have practically nothing in their nets. 



► ?. Mr. Thomas Bro^vn of Lerwick, has given the information 

 about the herring shoals around the Shetlands. 

 ^ ;^The winter fishery is pursued in the waters about the north 

 of^Unst and Yell, localities of fishing grounds being referred to 

 generally'from Flugga and the Ramna Stacks. The usual duration 

 is from February, when the herrings are mostly la-fulls and mat- 

 fulls, to about the end of March, during which months more and 



