FISHERIES 



21 



The difficulty in ascertaining the precise nuiflber of boats 

 and li.shurinua on some of the wilder parts of the coast is so 

 great, however, notwithstanding the important fact that the 

 coastguard is employed in collecting the information, that, 

 as the inspectors tell us, the returns even at the present 

 time cannot be taken as quite trustworthy. There was, how- 

 ever, an apparent increase of 46 craft and 585 fishermen, 

 and this seunie ' certainly the most encouraging report that 

 had reached us for many years. But an analysis of the 

 rut\irn shows that this increase is more apparent than real. 

 The iusi)ectors conveniently divide the boats with their 

 crews into three classes ind( pendently of tonnage, and this 

 jiian enables us in some measure to understand who are 

 inchidod uiidiu' the head of fishermen. The divisions come 

 under the following heads, and we give the returns for 1875 

 and 1876 fur the sake of comparison ; — 



The total number of boats and men in 1876 was — boats 

 5965, and fishermen 23,693, being a slight increase in both 

 over the previous year. But there is a falling oflF in the 

 number of regular fishermen, and the increase is only in 

 those who devote part of their time to fishing. We have 

 it on the authority of the inspectors that the men in tiie 

 third division, or occasional fishermen, are not employed in 

 that occupation on an average for more than one month in 

 the year, and yet we find the boats in this division form 

 more than two-thirds, and the men nearly the same pro- 

 portion, of the total numbers in Ireland. 



The history of tlie Irish fisheries shows that great fluctua- 

 tions have taken place at various times, but the last great 

 decline undoubtedly dates from the period of the famine in 

 1846, and those who have been l')ng acquainted with the 

 west coast fishermen in particular believe that their present 

 depressed state is entirely the result of that disastrous time. 

 Locii assistance has been given tinn; ;. Iter time with only a 

 temporary improvement ; and now the experiment is being 

 tried of advancing money from the Irish Reproductive 

 Loan Fund to enable the fishermen to provide the necessary 

 gear for fishing, The applications for loans have been, as 

 was expecteJ, far in excess of the amount available for the 

 purpose, and in very many cases no security cuuld be 

 obtained that the money would be ex[)ended iu the manner 

 proposed. No doubt some good will be done by the.se 

 loans, but much lasting advantage is not to be expected 

 from the system. Emigration has carried off thousands 

 from the country, and mainly from the west coast, where, 

 however, the majirity of the fishermen wore little more 

 80 than in name, aiiJ fishing was never allowed to interfere 

 with sea-weed cutting, farming, and any chance occupation. 

 There is this to be said, however, that on very many parts 

 of the west coast of Ireland the weather is frequently so 

 bad, and tiie seas so stormy that fishing cannot be carried 

 on with any regularity; and when favourab)'" ^imes arrive, 

 the neglected bo.t.ts and fishing gear are too often unfit for 

 use. On tin east and south coasts things are in a better 

 condition ; important fisheries for herrings and mackerel 

 in their seasons there provide profitable employment not 

 only for Irish fishermen, but for large numbers of Cornish, 

 Scotch, and .Manx fishing boats, which until the last year 

 or two h ive far outnumbered the native craft. There is 

 plenty of fish to be caught on the Irish coasts ; and the 



better than in 1876, tliose for mackerel and pilchanls not so good; 

 but the tutal iiiiiiiitity and value of the herrings, niadkeri-l, and cod 

 consigned to the Kugliah niarkets exceeded those of tbe year before. 



influence of the strangers is telling on many of the Irish 

 fishermen, and leading tliem to improvement in their boats 

 and all that relates to carrying on their work. 



The priuci[)al methods of fishing in Irish waters are 

 trawling, drift-fishing, and line fishing ; there is also a little 

 done with scans and trammels. 



Trawling. — Dublin is the headquarters of the deep sea 

 trawlers, and possesse" a fleet of about 50 smacks, ranging 

 from 30 to 50 tons, and working chiefly from that station. 

 Deei>sea trawlers were first used f.om Dublin in 1818, 

 when, as previously mentioned, some Brixhain boats and 

 fishermen were brought over. The fishing was found to be 

 profitable, and the fleet of smacks was gradually increased 

 until it reached its present size. The trawlers work 

 throughout the year when they can get sufficient hands, 

 but the light summer weather is not very suitable for 

 them ; and the attractions of the herring fishery and pro- 

 fitable employment on board yachts take away a great 

 many men for several weeks from their ordinary occupation. 

 The principal trawling grounds lie within a triangular space 

 between Dublin and Dundrum Bays and the Isle of Man, 

 and consist of a number of patches dilTering in shape and 

 extent, which are worked over, either on the inner or outer 

 grounds, according to the season. The Isle of Man ground, 

 lying in deep water, and a favourite place for soles, is 

 usually fished from March to July. In January there is a 

 partial migration of the trawlers to the south of Ireland, 

 and a very productivt fishing place known as the Saltee 

 ground, and about south-west from the Saltee lightship, 

 near Waterford, is worked by them with advantage. 

 Farther out at sea, at a distance of 30 or 40 miles from the 

 land, and without any very clearly defined limits, is what 

 lias long been spoken of as the Nymph Bank.^ Extra- 

 ordinary results have been anticipated from fishing this 

 ground, and no doubt there is plenty of fish upon it ; but 

 there are difticulties in working it properly, partly on 

 account of many scattered rocks which interfere with 

 trawling on it generally, and partly because of a want of 

 organization for bringing in the fish and sending them to 

 market. For a long time the greatest diffii-ulty encountered 

 Wtt3 from the local fishermen, who would not work in a 

 deep-sea trawler, or allow one to use her nets anywhere 

 within the headlands, although the weather was too bad to 

 go outside. Companies have been formed for trawling from 

 Waterford harbour, but the determined hostility ot many 

 of the native fishermen, and the fears of others in conse- 

 quence, have done more to discourage trawling there on a 

 large scale than anything else. English crews have been 

 tried, but it is not surprising tliat they should be unwill- 

 ing to remain in a locality where the feeling against them 

 was so strong. Matters seem to have improved of late, 

 but a good deal of enter[)rise is needed to carry on the 

 fishing in the way in which it might be done. Trawling 

 is worked in the shoaler parts of Waterford harbour by the 

 local fishermen ; and tiie complaint made by tliem that the 

 large trawlers did bo much mischief in destroying flie young 

 fry, wlii'st the small boats habitually worked where the 

 young fish were most abundant, was not too absurd to be 

 listened to by the insj)ecting commissioner of fisheries a 

 few years ago. A bye-l,iw was therefore established (pro- 

 bably with the object of preserving the jieace) to keep the 

 large trawlers beyond a certain depth of water, and the 

 small ones then had it all their own way inside. Under 



' Mr Froser mentions that in 1726 a jiroposnl was made by Mr 

 William Poyle, hydrographcr, for supplying the large English markets 

 with tlsh prt'Hervtd in well -boats, from the snutheru coast of Ireland, 

 and luirticularly from a (i.shing ground lie states he bad discovered, 

 unto which he gave the name of Nymph Bank, from a vessel called the 

 " Nymph," which ho enij>loyed in the enaiuiMutiou of Ibis flsbing 

 gCQ\iii<X.'~Remew (ff DometUc Fuhtriei, p. 4 (1818). 



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