126 THE SEA FISHERIES 



the fishing is principally carried on, frequently catch from 300 to 

 400 crans, and the fishermen are not satisfied unless the average is 

 200 crans per boat." The Commissioners also point out that as 

 a result of the extension of the fishery, " increased means of em- 

 ployment and an ample supply of wholesome food have been 

 furnished to the labouring classes. Fishing villages have been 

 erected, harboiirs built and extensive curing premises raised in 

 the most complete style ; and agriculture has been benefited and 

 waste land reclaimed by the use of the offal of the fish as manure, 

 arising from the practice of gutting having become general in 

 consequence of the bounty being confined to gutted fish alone." 



Scotland is still the leading herring-catching and exporting 

 country. Although the gross weight of herring landed in England 

 now surpasses the Scottish total, it must not be forgotten that a 

 considerable proportion of the fish landed on the east coast of 

 England is caught by Scottish fishermen. Scottish statistics of 

 cured herring go back to the year iSii,^ but the figures for the 

 whole catch only go back to 1889. Approximately they are : — 



Scottish Herring Fisheries Total Catch 

 annual averages for decennial periods 



Cwts. (thousands). £s (thousands). 



1894-I903 .... 4.014 • ■ 1.007 



1904-1913 .... 5,267 . . 1,564 



The statistics exhibit a certain amount of fluctuation, but on 

 the whole there is a steady increase. The average for the first 

 five years is 3,863,639 cwt. and £805,611 ; for the five years 1900-4 

 it was 4,464,955 cwt. and £1,185,426 ; and for the five years ending 

 1913 no less than (approximately) 4,983,000 cwt. and £i,733.ooo. 



Since the curing of herring forms an important adjunct to the 

 fishery in Scotland (p. 48), some account should be taken of the 

 cured fish and the export trade. The Fishery Board give full 

 statistics of this branch of the trade, and the difficulty in presenting 

 its main features lies in selecting, or rather compiling, a table, 

 which without being overloaded with figures, shall yet give the 

 main points. Care should be exercised, since in some of the fishery 

 Board's tables the figures represent the quantity of herrmgs " bung- 

 packed " i e ready for export. In other tables the corresponding 

 equivalents in the " sea-stick " state are given, i.e. before the herring 

 have " pined " or settled down in the barrels. An allowance of 

 from 20 to 25 per cent should be made in convertmg one set of 

 figures to the other. In the following table, five-yearly averages 



> See Annual Kept. Scots. Fish. Bd. for 1913. Appendix D., II. p. 129, et seq. 



