xxii 



Thirty-second Annual Report 



in excess of the record set up in the preceding year, and 42 per cent, 

 greater than the average for the period 1902-11. 



II. Pelagic Fish taken by Nets. 



(a) HERRINGS. 



The year 1913 was characterised by a comparatively small catch 

 of herrings — the lowest, in point of fact, since 1903 — and by the record 

 prices received for them. The gross landings amounted to 4,449,323 

 cwts., or 751,977 cwts. less than in 1912, while the value was £2,087,754, 

 or £177,221 more than in the preceding year. The decline in the 

 landings was entirely referable to the summer fishing, as the winter 

 catch was nearly three times as great as that of 1912. The value, 

 which for the first time in the annals of the industry exceeded 

 £2,000,000, marks another big step in advance, as it was 9 per cent, 

 greater than the figures for 1912, and 47 per cent, more than the 

 average for the ten years 1902-11. Prior to 1912 the highest sum 

 ever recorded was in 1907, when it reached £1,795,650, and to ap- 

 preciate the figures for 1913 at their proper value it must be borne in 

 mind that the landings in the earlier year were greater by over 

 1,800,000 cwts. 



The abnormal prices realised for herrings during the year under 

 review were attributable to much the same combination of circum- 

 stances as in 1912. The early fish again proved suitable for curing, 

 and if anything were of better quality than in 1912 ; the weather, 

 both in Scotland and on the Continent, was again cool and favourable 

 for transport ; the Continental markets, as was the case in the pre- 

 ceding year, were comparatively clear when the early fishing opened, 

 for although the heavy winter fishing at first threatened to prejudice 

 the market for early herrings, the demand proved unexpectedly good, 

 and the cure was rapidly disposed of ; while the upward tendency in 

 the prices of other food stuffs continued. But more potent than 

 any of these factors was the failure of the early fishing at the ports 

 north of Peterhead. Here curers, in anticipation of a successful 

 fishing, had laid in vast stocks of curing material, and when, after 

 a comparatively brisk start, the supplies of fresh herrings gradually 

 dwindled until they were hopelessly inadequate to the preparations 

 which had been made, the competition among curers for the meagre 

 quantities landed — intensified as it was by the addition of the 

 smaller cm*prs owing to the fact that early fish were now eligible 

 for the brand — reached a degree of keenness which, at the period 

 of greatest scarcity, drove the average price up to between £2 10s. 

 and £3 per cran. 



The effect of this competition is strongly reflected in the average 

 price per cwt. realised, which for the year under review works out at 

 9s. 4Jd., as against 7s. 4d. in 1912, which, be it remembered, was the 

 previous highest ; and in view of the rapid advance thus indicated, a 

 diagram is given tracing the variation in the catch and price of 

 herrings since 1900. The figures have been smoothed by averaging 

 each year with the two years immediately preceding it. 



It will be seen that from 1900 to 1905 there was a regular relation- 



