THE RISE OF THE HERRING FISHERIES 139 



About the year 1784 there arrived annually in Brassa Sound 

 between two and three hundred Dutch-Iceland ships of 80 tons, 

 and two or three hundred Dutch herring busses with two convoys 

 or hospital ships. ^ 



The statistics of the Dutch herring fishery refer to the " Great " 

 or " Salt " herring fishing, carried on off the east coasts of the 

 British Isles, the fish for the most part being cured on board. 

 These statistics are very detailed and go back for more than a 

 century. 



For the most part the Dutch boats fish for the so-called summer 

 herring in the neighbourhood of Lowestoft, where vessels from 

 Scheveningen may be met with every year. At the early or spring 

 herring fishery off the west coast of Scotland and off Stornoway 

 in 1907, only a few Dutch boats participated, and none in 

 1908. 



At the Scottish winter herring fishery in 1907 and 1909 no Dutch 

 boat took part, and ia 1908 only one. On the other hand, there 

 were eight or nine Dutch steam drifters fishing for herring in the 

 Channel off Boulogne in 1907 and 1908, and seventeen steamers in 

 1909. At the Scottish summer herring fishery a considerable number 

 of Dutch herring boats are engaged.* 



In the middle of the nineteenth century the Dutch herring fishery 

 was at a very low ebb, from 1850 to 1870 the highest annual catch 

 was 42,000 barrels, the lowest 16,000. A great recovery has since 

 taken place, the catch in 1903 amounting to 813,728 barrels, and 

 in 1910 (including salt and green herring), 781,826 barrels. The 

 annual average for the five years, 190^10, was 774,893 barrels. 

 At the time of the founding of the German herring fishery (1872) 

 it was 76,283 barrels. 



As may be seen from old prints the Dutch herring fisheries were 

 carried on for years, possibly for centuries, by means of " Busses "^ 

 or " Hookers," and these craft persisted until well on in the nine- 

 teenth century. They were low, barge-like vessels with a con- 

 spicuously high mast and square mainsail, a running bowsprit with 

 jib and stay-foresail, which must have been to a large extent shut 

 off by the mainsail. There was also a small topsail for use in light 

 winds. A small mizzen-mast with triangular sail was useful in 

 keeping the hooker to the wind. The crew was a large one, usually 



> " General remarks on the British Fisheries by a North Briton " (London, 1784). 

 p. 30. Republished in 1785 with author's name, Thomas Gordon. 



' In 1912 876 foreign fishing vessels visited Lerwick, in 1911 721, and in 1910 

 647. Of these about three-fourths are Dutch, one-sixth German and the rest Scan- 

 dinavian, French, Danes and Belgians. 



' An interesting description of the construction of a Herring Busse is contained 

 in " The Herring Busse Trade, Expressed in Sundry Particulars," by Simon Smith, 

 Agent for the Royal Fishing, 1641, already quoted in part, supra, p. 106. 



