THE SCOTCH EAST COAST HERRING FISHING. 39 



companies were again established, backed up and assisted 

 by the Government, but the expected great results were 

 never realised. A better year happened to be i/57> an< ^ 

 the fishings kept steady thereafter till 1767, after which 

 came the periodical backwardness, culminating in 1782, 

 when we read the total catch was only 12,522 barrels for 

 that year. The legislation of 1808, on fishery laws and 

 regulations, laid the foundation of all its future workings, 

 and it is from this period that we have a continual and 

 progressive success. Several excellent alterations and 

 additions were made by the Act 55, Geo. III. 694, 

 I4th June 1815, and about this time the east coast seemed 

 to be endowed with a new life. Herring curing seemed 

 prosperous, and the small coast villages in many cases in 

 a few years grew into fair-sized and prosperous towns. 

 Perhaps the best example is Fraserburgh. Twenty years 

 ago an insignificant 'Burgh indeed, but at this day the 

 Scotch herring capital. Built on and around Kinnaird 

 Head, it has the command of the Moray Firth. To the 

 south lies its beautiful bay. Jutting out from the Kinnaird 

 Castle is the breakwater, extending south and at the 

 middle south-east, and shelters the harbours and the bay. 

 It is 810 yards in length, and its average thickness about 

 30 feet. At its point there is a good lighthouse. The 

 Balaklava Harbour at Fraserburgh is the largest herring 

 boat harbour on the coast. It is 12% acres in extent. 



The growing importance of the herring fishing has caused 

 several inquiries and commissions to take place, and the 

 results have always tended to its well-being. I refer to 

 such years as 1832, 1843, 1852, 1859, and the more modern 

 but the most important of 1881. 



The following statistics show the total catch of herrings 



