xxxii 



Fifth Annual Report of the 



70 persons connected with the fishing industries of Scotland were 

 drowned at sea — 45 on the East Coast, and 25 on the West Coast. 

 In 1885, 126 persons met a like fate — 82 on the East Coast, and 

 44 on the West Coast. The decrease last year was no doubt 

 owing to the fine weather which prevailed during the summer and 

 autumn months, and to the herring shoals having frequented 

 Boats wrecked the in-shore grounds along the coast. The loss in boats was 



Sss^fNfte' alS0 leSS than in the 



previous year. 40 boats, valued at £10,751, 

 and other " were totally wrecked, and 132 others sustained damage to the 

 Material extent of £1899. The loss of nets and other fishing material, 

 mainly caused by the great weight of fish which were frequently 

 captured, amounted to the large sum of £38,551. The gross loss 

 in boats and fishing material during the year was thus £51,201, 

 being £7624 less than that in 1885. 



Detailed particulars of these disasters will be found in Table V. . 

 Appendix D, to which reference is made ; and it may be mentioned 

 that this is the third year during which such information has been 

 collected in Scotland. 



EAST COAST HERRING FISHERY. 



Seventeen East Following the course which has been adopted for the last few 

 Districts years, some details will now be given, taken from the reports of the 

 inspectors and district officers, regarding the herring fishery of 

 1886, in each of the twenty-six districts into which the coasts of 

 Scotland are divided for fishery purposes, beginning at the south 

 with the seventeen on the East Coast. These are — Eyemouth, Leith, 

 Anstruther, Montrose, Stonehaven, Aberdeen, Peterhead, Fraser- 

 burgh, Banff, Buckie, Findhorn, Cromarty, Helmsdale, Lybster, 

 Wick, Orkney Isles, and Shetland Isles. 



Boundary of 

 District. 



Fishing not 

 begun with 

 usual Enter- 

 prise. 



Large quantity 

 of Herrings 

 landed. 



How disposed 

 of. 



Particulars 

 of Fishing. 



Eyemouth District. 



From Amble, in the county i of Northumberland, to the east side of St Abb's 

 Head, both inclusive, with Coquet Island, Holy Island, and the Fame 

 Islands. 



District Fishery Office — Berwick-on-Tweed. 



In consequence of the severe depression which existed in the 

 herring trade during the previous two years, the curers and fisher- 

 men in Eyemouth district did not enter upon the fishing in 1886 

 with their usual enterprise and spirit; nor, indeed, after it was 

 begun, owing to the low prices of herrings which still prevailed, 

 was it prosecuted with the same amount of industry which would 

 otherwise have been the case. Notwithstanding this, however, a 

 large quantity of herrings was landed at the ten stations in the 

 district. The total quantity cured was 62,376 barrels, being 

 nearly 29,000 in excess of that of 1885, and about 12,000 crans 

 were sent fresh to inland towns for immediate consumption. 

 302 boats were employed, being 44 less than in the pre- 

 vious year. Their average catch was 212 crans per boat, and 

 the total catch of each varied from 50 to 400 crans. A great 

 many individual takes, ranging from 80 to 136 crans, were landed. 



