36 THE HERRING FISHERIES. 



Herring Fishing Engagements at Droughty Ferry, January, 

 1883. 



Twenty-one boats, with the crews already made up, are 

 arranged to fish as follows : Montrose district, ten boats ; 

 Aberdeen district, nine boats : the other two to fish between 

 or on the coast bounded by the Tay and Montrose. Terms, 

 ^"45 of bounty, ,1 per cran of fresh fish for a complement 

 of 200 crans, and 1 5 s. per cran for salted herrings. Aries, 

 money or perquisites in addition to each boat's crew, 2. 

 In the case of the Montrose boats the herrings will only be 

 considered fresh when landed at I A.M. In the case of the 

 Aberdeen boats the herring will only be considered fresh 

 when landed at " midnight." After these hours the prices 

 allowed will be the same as is allowed for salted fish, &c.* 



The highest prices are paid for the early takes in every 

 district ; and as it would be noticed, the men are bound 

 down to a given time, even should their boats be so loaded 

 that they cannot get in. 



Enormous quantities of early fresh fish are trucked 

 immediately to English markets, or partially cured and 

 shipped to German ports, till at length the curing yards 

 become a scene of life and activity that can only be com- 

 pared to the herrings themselves in their onward progress 

 beneath the waves. 



The largest quantity exported from any Scotch port as 

 a cargo was that of last season (1882) by the ss. Silesia, 

 from Peterhead, with 3075 barrels of cured herrings, and 

 at present Peterhead and Fraserburgh are the leading 

 centres of the east coast for Scotland, just as Great Yar- 

 mouth and Lowestoft are in England. 



For Fraserburgh the season's cure of 1882 is very close 



* It may be stated that the bounty is better this year by about ^10 

 than on any previous occasion. 



