FISHERMEN IN WAR TIME 



Many of the motor fishing-boats did uncommonly 

 well. Two of these vessels which landed their 

 catches at Mallaig made ^750 and ^700 respectively 

 for a shot of herrings. These sums represented 

 double the price which was asked at the time for an 

 ordinary first-rate motor boat, while a large motor 

 fishing-boat was obtainable for ^550. 



When the statements of these extraordinary earn- 

 ings were first made there was a natural tendency to 

 discredit them, and to believe that they were greatly 

 exaggerated ; but the authenticity of the figures was 

 set at rest by the report of the Acting Chief Fishery 

 Officer (Mr. John H. Leng) of the North-Eastern 

 Sea Fisheries Committee for the quarter which 

 ended on September 30. The boats that were left 

 and were working in that district, he said, had all 

 done very well. This was shown by the increased 

 value of the landings over the corresponding quarter 

 of the previous year. After confirming the figures 

 of skippers' earnings which have been mentioned, 

 Mr. Leng gave statistics which made it clear that 

 such large earnings were easily possible. The 

 total value of all kinds of fish landed had increased 

 enormously, and there would be a further increase 

 in value in 1917, despite the decreased landings. 

 When it was remembered that our fishing fleet had 

 been reduced to 30 per cent, of its size before the 

 war, it would be realised that the earnings of the 

 remaining vessels were very large indeed. Some 

 large catches of herring had been landed. At 

 Hartlepool herrings had realised as much as ^14 a 



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