CLUPEID^. 221 



increased by almosli 4000. The proportion of number of fisliermen to barrels of 

 herrings cured has averaged as follows : — 



6 years, 1825 to 1830, 1 fisherman to 8 barrels of herrings. 



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The immense value to the com.munity will be seen when attention is directed to 

 the value of the fishing gear in Scotland having averaged £1,263,737 for the last 

 five years, while each barrel of cured herrings is estimated to be worth about 25s. 



But when we inquire into the gear employed, we are told that cotton nets 

 came into use about 1856, and rapidly superseded the hempen ones. A boat 

 which used to carry 24 hemp nets, 40 yards long, equivalent to 960 yards of 

 netting, now employs 60 to 60 cotton nets each 60 yards long, equivalent to 3300 

 yards. The nets per boat we are told " used to present a catching surface of 

 3000 square yards ; they now present a catching surface of 33,000 square yards." 

 The Commissioners estimated when giving the foregoing figures that " each boat 

 has increased its power five-fold." But the amount captured does not appear to 

 have kept pace with the increased killing powers, for if so the fishermen who from 

 1825 to 1850 while employing hemp nets obtained from eight to ten barrels per 

 man, should now, were the proportions equal, be capturing from 40 to 50 barrels, 

 instead of about 22. It has been computed that there are 30,000 fishing vessels of 

 about 280,000 tons tonnage, manned by 165,000 men and boys, engaged around our 

 islands, and most of which are or have occasionally engaged in the capture of 

 herrings. Numerous trades are dependent on the success or the reverse of this fishery. 



It would be an exceedingly interesting investigation as to what is the effect on 

 the eggs of herrings deposited in depths over 50 fathoms. This can only be 

 ascertained by a series of experiments carried on in the ocean, as I have 

 already but uselessly advocated. If this deeper water has no deleterious effects 

 upon the hatching of the eggs the question arises whether such has any action on 

 the fry, or if when hatched they are in as good a locality for being reared as if 

 they were nearer in-shore. Lastly, I would remark that if the herrings have, due 

 to changes in our fishery laws and consequent methods of fishing, been unduly 

 interfered with, so that the shoals are now further out to sea than was formerly 

 the case, thus necessitating the employment of larger boats, has not such occasioned 

 a great loss of life ? That going further out to sea to obtain these fish is a 

 necessity is now admitted, while the harbour accommodation remains the same, 

 boats are thus unable to enter during storms and a great sacrifice of life is the 

 result. This is another and most important factor which ought to be taken into 

 consideration when deciding upon the necessity or the reverse for investigating 

 the results which have followed the legislation of the last 18 or 20 years. 



As food. — Herrings are very largely employed as food either in a fresh 

 or cured condition. Of course in difi'erent localities these fish may be and often 

 are differently treated. Usually care is taken in selecting ai^d assorting such fish 

 as have to be cured and also in obtaining the services of competent gutters, while 

 the rapidity with which the various processes are carried on, the seasoning of the 

 barrels when such are used, and period at which they are fastened down, all are 

 important factors in the condition in which the cured fish will be found. 



In the north of Scotland the herrings on arrival are placed in a heap near 

 the troughs of the curers, next they are gutted by individuals who at one cut 

 remove the intestines and gills. They are then "roused " with salt in a tub and 

 lastly packed in layers in barrels, a handful of salt being sprinkled over each 



