276 A HISTORY OF THE WHALE FISHERIES 



nuisance was solely due to the difficulties attending 

 the inauguration of the industry. At the same time 

 it is obvious that any treatment of huge carcasses 

 such as those of the whale is bound to be associated 

 with offensive odours, and the works are only allow- 

 able in remote districts as far as possible from human 

 habitation. The real ground of complaint was that 

 of interference with the herring fishing, an important 

 industry in the Shetlands. In 1903 there were one 

 hundred and fifty-seven herring curing stations in the 

 Shetlands, the total herring cured amounting to 

 four hundred and sixty-six thousand and forty- 

 eight barrels ; employment being afforded to 

 seventeen thousand four hundred and ninety-one 

 persons. 



The herring fishermen object to the killing of the 

 whales because the spouting of the whale is often 

 an indication of the presence of the shoals of herring. 

 There is, however, some conflict of opinion as to 

 whether the whale indicating the presence of the 

 herring is of the same species as that sought by the 

 whalers. The whalers state that their operations 

 are carried on as a rule above thirty-five miles from 

 the land, whereas the herring fishery of the Shetlands 

 is in the main carried on within that distance. The 

 whalers specialise in the capture of the F inner, and 

 they state that it is the smaller " Herring Hog," 

 worthless from their point of view, that points out 

 the herring shoals to the Shetlanders. Other points 

 urged by the herring fishermen were that the whales 

 drive the herrings towards the shore and the nets, 



