p. Scotland 



The modern period of the Scottish fishery statistics, and therewith, of the Scottish 

 fisheries, may be said to have begun in the year 1882, when the new Fishery Board was 

 constituted and empowered to take cognisance amongst other things of "the Coast and 

 Deep Sea Fisheries of Scotland". Previous to that year, there had been a similar Board, 

 with a similar constitution that is, which had had its origion as far back as 1809, but 

 its duties, so far as statistics were concerned, were restricted to one branch of the fisheries, 

 namely, of the "cured" fish. The species taken account of were: herring, cod, ling and 

 hake, and of these only the quantities cured; statistics of the fresh fish or of the quantities 

 landed had not been undertaken. It was only after some years also (1885), that the new 

 Board was able to begin the publication of statistics dealing with the quantities of fish 

 actually landed, and it was not until 1889, that the herring, cod etc. i. e. the cured fish, 

 were brought under the same system. 



With regard to the fisheries, this same period, between 1880 and 1890, marked the 

 beginning of a long struggle between liners and trawlers. Previous to 1882, beam-traw- 

 ling had been carried on for several years in the Moray Firth by a few saihng smacks, 

 and for a still longer period in the Clyde, but steam trawlers from England had but 

 recently begun operations. The great majority of the boats were then small, under 30 

 feet, many of them undecked, and the common methods of fishing were long-lines or hand- 

 lines for the cod, ling, plaice etc. and drift-nets for herring. The fishing was carried on, 

 consequently, near the land for the most part, though some of the larger boats went regu- 

 larly as far as Iceland in the north and occasionally to Kockall in the west. 



With the appearance of the steam-trawler — the sailing trawler does not seem to 

 have been a success in Scottish waters — the Scottish fisheries began the modern period, 

 and the twenty years which followed 1882, saw a constant increase in the numbers of 

 steam trawlers and in the quantity and value of the fish landed by them, whilst the 

 same years saw, on the other hand, the gradual decline of the line-fishing. It was not 

 until 1899 and 1900, however, that trawling finally showed itself to be the principal 



Official Publications: 

 Annual Reports of the Fishery Board for Scotland, 1882 (1883) et seq. 



Work of Reference: 

 Mo. Intosh, W. C, "The Resources of the Sea", 1899. 



FuLTOK, T. W.: "North Sea Invastigations" etc. Scot. Fish. Board Reports, XX, XXI & XXII for the 

 years 1901, 19Ü2 & 1908. 



