FISHERIES 



19 



grciit cnpturt'i of the trowlnr, who, workinir with 1pm cnpitnl anl 

 witli u iiinrr inoiliirtivu kiihl of lulxmr, iHuliii^ In 'iinli'mall the (Irift 

 finhiTiiii'ii, uikI til diMiiiiK'^ tht- miu'ki't lor th« cui'iiis." 



It liii|i|iuiiHil tliiit ill 1M)(I, tli« luHt yi^ur (it trawling liefoiv It.t com- 



Iili'tti Hii|>|ii'«iMi the llMJiinK ill Loch Kyiu^ wua tliu lurgi'ct ovvr 

 :uMH'ri tlii-n< ; in IHtll it Ml ulf, liul in 1862 it w>uia|<itiii vi'ry larKc, 

 and ihiit vviu foUowiMt dy lluiituatioim uh iH'foro, iilthciiiKli t)ii: drift 

 lUh«riiiKii then had it all their own way. The riMU)iiiiii<iiidiitiiiiiH of 

 till! two comiiiiMiioiiH wuri! i-iiiliudii-d in an Act (3U aud 31 Vict. 

 c. (>2| iiaxaiHl ill 1M67, hy which any kind of herring net with what 

 WU1 thttii the h'Kul luvHh wiu |N;rniittcd, and truwU lo coimtructcd 

 uuiiiu came into \\m. By the H«a Kmhcrica Aut, 186H, all rcHtrie- 

 tiou.i lut to the Hizc of iiicnh wcr« doiii) iiwiiy, hut a* that Act only 

 apjiliHii to liHliinv Iwyoiid the three mile limit, the Act of 1H67 Hlill 

 l'e|{ii!ulHH lli« llJiinu .u Loidi Fyne. It ihuneed that from 1H0.S to 

 1874 lliM pruduci ut tliiH loi'b tfru'l'iiilly tell olf from 46,H|3 hiirrelH 

 to 6934 liari'cU; the herriiiKH did not ^'o to tlw^ U|>|ii'r wiiturH of tlie 

 loidi ill the Hiime iiitmhcrH an hefore, and we iieud liiinlly hiiv that the 

 drift lialiMniieii accimuted for it mainly Iiy the fact that trawlin;{ hail 

 again lieeii |HM'iiiiltiMl. The drift liHherni«n had littlu lM>licf in the 

 two cuulllli^NiollH wliicli had rvporled that trawling had done no 

 liarin; but in 1874, when matters were at their womt, thret; 8cotrli 



SeiitleiiieD of )Kiiiition, who were likely to oonimaiid the coiili- 

 ence of the fmhernieu, formed theniHelveii into a iirivate committee 

 ■ aire into the caiiHes of tlie failure in l.ocli Fyne. The ri'- 

 <!garda the etfecta of trawling iu keeping away the herringH 

 ^ay IK .leat giveu in their own words: — "The fiu't cnniiot b<! ex- 

 ]iluliied away that the liNh seem to be at present diHimlined to enter 

 other narrow wateri where trawling is uiikuowii. "' Tliu idea, how- 

 ever, that the opiuioni of these gentlemen would be received witli. 

 re8|>ect has proved to be a miutakeu one; and the fact that three 

 iiKpiiiies had resulted in tlic same coucIusioiiH seemed only to make 

 the.ie lisliermen the more determined to clamour against trawling. 

 Ill 1877 a fourth comminsiou waa appointed ; its object wiu to ex- 

 iiiniiie into the condition of the Scotch herring fisheries generally, 

 niid the state of the Loch Fyne fisheries was therefore once more 

 iiiveNtiguted. Yet, notwithstanding that the prmlure of this loch 

 had incieased from 6034 barrels iu 1874 to 15,097 in 1876, and to 

 34,471 in 1876, with a further increase in 1877, so far aatha returns 

 liiiil been mode up at the time, all the old statements were again 

 brought forward by the drift men. But the facts against them 

 nppear to have been too strong, and this last commission, like the 

 three previous ones, hog declined to recommend that trawling should 

 bi' Hiip|iieBsed. 



'J'liere is abundant evidence in the records for a great number of 

 years that the annual produce of Loch Fyne has been subject to large 

 llucluations. Hut if we compare successive periods of ten years each 

 we Nhatl liud that not only are the average total catches in recent 

 years far in <'Xce.s8 of those in earlier times, but the average for each 

 boat has very lai^^ely iniTeased. The following official record for 

 periodi- of ten years is very instructive : — 



Tlie average for the ten yenr.s 1S57-1.S66 was much raised by the 

 enoninniH eath of 79,893 barrels in 1802, whilst the sin.iU number 

 of tl!t:i4 biiiTels only being taken iu 1874 has materially lowered the 

 uvei;ij{o for the lust ten years. 



ll' we now look at the ])roduce of the fishery on the whole west 

 coast of Scotland for the la.st thirty years, taking the average 

 in periods of ten years as before, we find the follnwiiif; : — 



The quantities here given .ire in liarrels, as usual ; and the figures 

 m tnis and the preceding return are taken from the statistics care- 

 fully prepared by Mr George Ue'nch, assistant in«iwctor under the 

 lloiiid of Fisheries, and furnished i.y liim to the commission in 1877. 

 He hud been 27 years in the service of the board, and for the last 

 14 yenrs the whole of the west coast fisheries luul been under his 

 ins|ie(tion. 



There is nothing that enables ua better to understand the actual 

 condition of a fluctuating industry lilvo our soa fisheries than accurate 

 records of its annual produce. In this respect Scotland, owing to 



' I hn nepnrt of tho«e gentlemen Is given In full and ally discoaaed In the 

 Ammal Ji^ptri Ua Ittli at ihe Hoard •( ^''islieilaa. 



the careful laboun of hot Hoard of Fislieriea, ii in • far more for- 

 tunate position vhaii i i.licr Kii^flaiel or Ireland ; and the folhiwing 

 tallies taken from the lust report of the Fishery Iloanl will readily 

 show, by the i:onipariHoii of niiy two selei ted scries of yeuiii, the 

 gradually increasing iiii|Kjrtaiiee of the Hcotch herring fishery, 

 notwithstanding the fiiiutuationi arising from uiifnvonrable weather 

 and other natural causes. Wo may add that considerable (|iiantitiea 

 of herrings whii'h are sold in the local marketa and eoimuuied whilst 

 i|iiito fi'esli, do not appear in the board's returns, but those which 

 are slightly salted for transit by ship to the great market* are lo 

 included. The (|uaiititie« are in barrels, as before. 



AlisTiiArT showing the total quantity of White Herrings cured, 

 branded, and exported, year by year, in $o fur as hrouijhl under 

 riHjiUmnet of Fiulury (IJUrr.t, from the Istof June 1809 to the 



31st of Deoeinber 1M77 ; ilistiiignishiiig the export to Ireland, to 

 the Continent, and to ]ilai'(s out of Kuro|Ht. The periods for 

 which each Keturii is made end on the 6th of April down to 

 1844 ; from that year to 1S52, on the 6th of January ; and after- 

 wards on the 31ht of Deeeinber j lieiiee two returns were pub- 

 lished in 1852. There were no returns for England after Jan- 

 uary 1850, or for the Isle of tlan alter January 1869. 



ff.B. — In tbe tlx fears ending tth April 1818 the bounty on herrfaiRi cured 

 (tutted was two dhllllncs per barrel, while there wai a bounty at the nnie time 

 of two shlllinKH and eljihtpence per barrel, payable by the exclae. on tho expor- 

 tation of lieningii, wliutlter cured gutted or unicutfed. but which ceoaed on the 

 lit June 1815; in the eleven yem . ending 6tl\ April 1826 the bounty on heiringi 

 ruled gutted whs four ■hlllhign pci- biincl; In tho four aiu'ceedlng >euri the 

 bounty was reduced one uhllling per ban^l each year tUl the tth 0( April UMt 

 When It ceased altogetlier, aod has not iloce been renewed. 



