112 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



been said at Fisheries Conferences that, if the boats were 

 manned, equipped and sent to sea, the herring would be 

 found to be as abundant now as they had been in the past. 

 A few years ago a philanthropic body in the Isle of Man (the 

 " Noble '' Trustees) with some funds at their disposal induced 

 a firm of herring buyers and curers from Scotland to establish 

 a branch of their business temporarily at Port St. Mary, 

 where they were given special facilities by the Harbour Board 

 for the erection of their sheds and stores ; and the presence 

 of this curing establishment, guaranteeing to buy at a reasonable 

 price all the fish that were brought in by the boats, so stimu- 

 lated the local fishermen that a fleet of about forty boats was 

 equipped and went to sea, and as a result a profitable fishery 

 ensued. The fishermen were satisfied that the old times had 

 come back, and that the herring shoals were once more visiting 

 the seas around their Island. That was in the summer of 1910, 

 and the same conditions held good for the two following years. 

 Only the one buyer was in the market and the prices he gave 

 ranged from 14s. to 18s. the cran during the three years 

 1910-1912. In the following summer four rival fish-curers 

 had establishments at Port St. Mary and Peel and, as the 

 result of competition, the prices paid for the herring to the 

 fishermen rose from a maximum of 18s. the cran in 1912 to 

 a maximum of 40s. the cran in 1913. 



In 1914 only two curers opened establishments at Port 

 St. Mary, and as a result, it is said, of a private arrangement 

 between them in the earlier part of the season prices fell as 

 low as 7s. a cran. Later on, however, the arrangement broke 

 down, healthy competition took place, and prices rose to the 

 respectable maximum of 30s. the cran. 



Last year (1915) was the most profitable season. The 

 fishery lasted for nearly three months (July 8th to September 

 28th), over forty boats were engaged in it at Port St. Mary 

 alone, four rival buyers and curers were present, and the prices 



