FISHERIES. 



Scotland that is, of cured herrings was branded 

 by the government fishery officials, in token of fish 

 being full of spawn, and all the curing operations 

 having been complied with. The brand is now 

 a voluntary certificate, for which a small fee is 

 exacted, and a considerable number of barrels 

 are annually disposed of without that mark of 

 merit. 



Statistics of the herring-fishery are annually 

 collected in Scotland, so far, at least, as to ascer- 

 tain, with tolerable accuracy, the quantity of these 

 fish which are 'cured' at the various accredited 

 fishing-ports. The quantity of fresh herrings 

 which are despatched by railway is enormous. 

 A train filled with herrings, leaving Dunbar in the 

 morning, can easily reach Manchester the same 

 day. Of the 'cured' fish we have the following 

 official statistics of the take in recent years : 

 (1868) 638,260 barrels; (1869) 675,143; (1870) 

 833,160; (1871) 825,475; (1872) 773,859 barrels. 

 The 'take' in 1880 was the greatest on record 

 up to that time, but was much exceeded by 

 that for 1884; the value of cured herrings in 

 that year being ,2,121,346, while that of her- 

 rings sold fresh was 150,720. The number of 

 barrels cured in that year was 1,697,077, as 

 many as 653,425 having been branded. The 

 number of boats engaged in the herring-fishery, 

 as well as the quantity of netting employed, 

 has been largely increased during the last forty 

 years, but the take of fish has not been com- 

 mensurate hence a cry has arisen from some 

 economists that the herring is being ' over- 

 fished.' The chief moving power of the Scot- 

 tish herring-fishery is the curer : he it is who 

 sets the whole trade in motion ; he engages the 

 boats, paying so much money by way of premium 

 when he does so, and giving a fixed sum to its 

 owner per cran (the cran is a measure which con- 

 tains forty-five gallons of ungutted herrings), for 

 his catch during the season ; the bargain is usually 

 for two hundred crans, and, as a rule, only a few 

 of the boats obtain this number. The curer pro- 

 vides, of course, all the materials of the cure ; he 

 engages coopers to make the barrels and super- 

 intend the packing of the fish ; also the women 

 whose duty it is to eviscerate them. Some of 

 the Scottish herring-curers have been very enter- 

 prising men, notably the Methuens, who in some 

 seasons had as many as 10,000 people in their 

 employment. These gentlemen cured at upwards 

 of fifty stations in England, Scotland, and Ireland, 

 and their turnover in connection with this one 

 branch of commerce was usually over ; 500,000 

 per annum. It is obvious that if one firm did so 

 much business, the total herring-commerce of the 

 three kingdoms must represent a very large sum 

 of money. The following summary of the number 

 of persons employed in the herring-fishery in 

 Scotland, the number of boats engaged, their 

 value, and the value of the netting, is from an 

 official return, and may be relied upon as being 

 tolerably accurate. 



The number of boats in 1884 was 1 5,445. 

 and in the same year 49,860 men and boys 

 were required to man them. These boats and 

 men were employed by 1062 fish-curers, who 

 required 2809 coopers and 48,832 other persons 

 to oversee the cure. Thus it may be safely said 

 that about half a million persons, or nearly one- 

 seventh of the entire population of Scotland, are 



' dependent on its fisheries. The money value of 

 | the boats and nets is set down at ^1,802,886. It 

 is difficult to obtain a correct idea of the number 

 and value of the boats engaged in the English 

 herring-fisheries at the Isle of Man, Great Yar- 

 mouth, Cullercoats, and other places. M'Culloch 

 estimated the capital invested at Yarmouth and 

 Lowestoft at a quarter million sterling. This latter 

 place employs about seventy boats, of forty tons 

 each. The greater number of the herrings taken 

 at Yarmouth and other places are cured, and known 

 in London and throughout England by the names 

 of ' Yarmouth bloaters,' ' Straitsmen,' ' Reds,' and 

 ' Blacks ' for home use. It may likewise be men- 

 tioned that Hastings and Folkestone on the 

 English coast have capital herring-fisheries, and 

 that a large portion of the fresh fish which reaches 

 the metropolis is sent from these towns ; herrings 

 are also caught in Cardigan and Swansea bays. 

 The Irish herring-fisheries are not worked as they 

 ought to be; hence Ireland, although its coasts 

 abound with fine fish, derives the chief portion of 

 its herring supply from the north of Scotland. 

 When it is taken into account that this wealth is 

 drawn direct from the sea that no rent is paid 

 for the fishing-grounds, and that no capital is 

 expended in brood-stock or for food to the animals 

 the value of this item of our national resources 

 is obvious ; and the question raised by some, 

 whether we are not by bad economy allowing it 

 to be dried up at its source, becomes serious. 

 The sea is free to all, and there are men who 

 would rob the mighty waters at one fell swoop, if 

 they could, of all their treasures, and not leave 

 within them one fish to breed from. 



III. THE PILCHARD AND SPRAT FISHERIES. 



The pilchard-fishery is of as much importance 

 to the people at the Land's End, as the common 

 herring is to the people on the north-east coast of 

 Scotland. The pilchard is not unlike the herring, 

 and was at one time caught in the principal Scot- 

 tish estuaries. Up to the year 1816, it used to be 

 taken in great quantities in the Firth of Forth. 

 At the present time, the principal resort of this 

 fish is the coast of Cornwall, where its capture 

 gives employment to a large number of people, 

 and a considerable amount of capital is required 

 to carry it on. 



No exact statistics of the quantity of pilchards 

 annually caught can be obtained, as in the case 

 of the herring, but it is said that of late years 

 the number captured has not been so great as 

 it was at one time that good old time when 

 10,000 hogsheads of these fish (each hogshead 

 numbering 2700 pilchards) were seined in one 

 day off St Ives. A common enough haul consists 

 of four or five thousand fish, and it is seldom that 

 greater numbers are obtained at one time ; but on 

 one memorable occasion so many pilchards were 

 inclosed in a seine that it took a fortnight to 

 bring them ashore! The mode of capturing the 

 pilchard is, as a rule, different from that of taking 

 the herring, most of them being caught by means 

 of what is called a seine-net ; a few are, however, 

 taken by drift-nets. Seine-fishing is novel, and 

 very picturesque, and the fish taken in this 

 manner bring the highest price in the foreign 

 markets. A seine, with the necessary boats, 

 grapnels, and gear, costs about ,1500. \ rpm the 



