SEA- FISHERIES LABORATORY. 113 



ranged from 21s. at the beginning when the fish were small 

 and of poorer quality to the remarkable maximum of 91s. the 

 cran— and this price was not an isolated case, but was reached 

 on several different occasions, as I have seen in the auctioneer's 

 record of the daily sales. On September 15th eight boats 

 earned between them over £500. 



In the present summer (1916) the fishery was, at first, 

 less prosperous. Only one curing establishment opened at 

 Port St. Mary in the earlier part of the season, although others 

 were expected later. As a result fewer boats (about fifteen) were 

 fishing, and the single buyer paid a fixed price of 23s. the cran 

 for all fish brought into Port St. Mary. As the season went 

 on prices improved, and by August 30th a second buyer had 

 appeared and the prices had risen to 45s. the cran. By the 

 middle of September there was a marked improvement both 

 in the quality of the fish and the state of the market. Four 

 additional buyers and curers were at work, and towards the 

 end of the month one boat sold its catch of 100 crans at the 

 record price of 97s. a cran. 



This early summer, however, the fishery at Peel on the 

 other side of the Island has been much more profitable. About 

 thirty-six sailing boats a*nd half a dozen steam drifters from the 

 East coast have been engaged in it, while the presence of five 

 competing buyers has resulted in higher prices — on the average 

 about 35s. the cran. One of the buyers has started a service 

 of motor boats running the fresh fish across to Whitehaven 

 on the Cumberland coast, while the others have cured the 

 greater part of the catch at Peel and have sent it to Liverpool 

 to be distributed to other markets. 



The conclusion one arrives at from this record of recent 

 years, and from what one can ascertain of conditions in the 

 past, is that — in addition to the presence of the fish, which 

 can probably be relied upon in most years — it is necessary for 

 a prosperous herring fishery in the Isle of Man either that a 



