38 Part III. — Twenty-jiffh Annual Report 



The last herrings landed in the district were five crans in the early part 

 of November, which were caught off the Ayrshire coast. The fishermen, 

 it is noted, did not remember any season when the herrings were so 

 scarce in the later months of the year. The monthly totals were as 

 follows : — 



June. July. August. September. October. November. December. 

 50 . 704 368 1,218 626 15 — 



From 1873 to 1887 the annual yield of the district was small, and 

 few or no herrings were taken in the Kyles or the lochs. In that 

 period the best year was 1880, when 8829 crans were caught, and the 

 records show that the great bulk of the fish was obtained at Loch Rinra, 

 Arran, and in Kilbrennan Sound. Still a fair, though not large, fishing 

 was carried on by the smaller boats in the Kyles of Bute and Lochs 

 Long, Goil, Striven, and Riddon at the end of June and in July, and 

 some herrings were taken in Loch Striven in October. 



From 1887 to 1891 the yield was higher, especially in 1890, when the 

 aggregate was 18,749 crans, the annual average for the five years being 

 11,881 crans. In 1887 the fishing began in the week ended 9th July, 

 in the Sound of Kilbreanan, off Ardlamont, and in the Kyles, as well as 

 Lochs Striven and Riddon, and fishing was also prosecuted in Loch Long. 

 But throughout the year the principal fishing area was in the neighbour- 

 hood of Skipness, between Arran and Bute, and in Kilbrennan Sound, 

 practically all the herrings got in the later months of the year being 

 obtained about Machrie Bay, Arran. The total for the year was 10,376 

 crans. 



In 1888, when the total was 9919 crans, the fishing began favourably 

 in the week ended 30th June, in Lochs Long, Goil, and Striven. The 

 Officer noted that the fishing in Loch Long was the most successful for 

 many years there, and that there was every indication of a large shoal of 

 herrings having passed up the Clyde. In the week ended 14th July it 

 is stated that the fishing in the lochs had been very successful, the catch 

 in Loch Striven being 331 crans, and in Loch Long 400 crans, all large, 

 fine fish. The fishing in Loch Riddon and the Kyles was also successful. 

 In August, though herrings were still being got in the lochs and in the 

 Kyles, the fishing was chiefly in Kilbrennan Sound ; a few were 

 obtained in Loch Striven in September. But after this 



the herrings were caught in Kilbrennan Sound, Machrie Bay, and 

 off Skipness and Ardlamont till the season closed early in December. In 

 1889, the fishing began at the end of June in Lochs Striven, Long, and 

 Goil, and also on the west side of Bute, and ofi" Garroch Head. The loch 

 fishing was slight in July, but early in August it was successful in Loch 

 Striven and the neighbourhood of Rothesay, and there was a fair fishing 

 in the Kyles and Loch Riddon. After this the fishing in Lochs Long 

 and Goil fell off", and though herrings continued to be taken in Loch 

 Striven and the Kyles, the chief fishing was to the south off Ardlamont 

 and then off Skipness. The total for this year was 8849 crans. 



In 1890, when the aggregate totalled 18,749 crans, the fishing again 

 began in the week ended 21st June, in Lochs Striven, Long, and Goil; it 

 continued there and also in the Kyles and at Arran during July, falling 

 away in the lochs as the month advanced. In August the chief fishing 

 place was off Ardlamont, where the great bulk of the fish in this month 

 were obtained, but herrings were also taken in the Kyles of Bute, Loch 

 Riddon, and at Arran. In September the most productive area was also 

 at Ardlamont, but herrings were also taken in the Kyles, Loch Riddon, 



