xviii 



Fifth Annual Report of the 



Fish-curers munity, especially to the poorer classes, it is deeply to bo regretted 

 tained^reat tnat tne curers recently sustained very great losses. For some 

 losses. ° years previous to 1884, the herring-curing business had been in a 

 prosperous state, and in that year, in accordance with previous 

 usage, arrangements were entered into, before the season opened, 

 Causes thereof, under which the herrings landed were to be bought by the curers 

 from the fishermen at certain fixed rates, which, with bounty money 

 in addition, made the prices very high. The fishing of that year was 

 the most abundant ever known ; the price of herrings fell to a very 

 low point, and the curers sustained great losses. For the fishing of 

 1885, arrangements were entered info on somewhat similar terms 

 to those made in the previous year, with the exception that the 

 bounty money to be paid was smaller. The fishing of that year 

 was also a very large one; the market got glutted with cured 

 herrings ; the price continued extremely low ; and the fish-curers 

 again suffered very severely. Considerable losses have been 

 incurred in many previous years by those persons engaged in 

 this trade ; but no two years ever came together before which 

 proved so disastrous to them as 1884 and 1885. 

 Arrangements With regard to last year, a very strong desire was expressed on 

 Fishingini886 ^ ne P ar ^ °^ fish-curers, iong before the summer herring fishing corn- 

 should begin, menced, that it should not begin on the East Coast before the 20th 

 sale ofHer - 18 °^ J u ty> an ^ a general understanding was entered into among them 

 rings. to this effect ; and also that the prices of the fish to be captured 



should not be fixed beforehand, as had hitherto been the practice, 

 but that the takes should be bought, day by day, as' they were 

 Arrangements landed. These arrangements seemed to find favour for some time, 

 not a erec ^ were no t adhered to. On the contrary, the fishing was 

 begun at the usual period, the middle of July, and before the 20th 

 of that month the great bulk of the boats had been engaged to fish 

 during the whole season, on fixed terms, as formerly. The other 

 boats, which had made no engagement, sold their takes as they 

 were landed. 



Owing to low In consequence of the low prices of cured herrings which had 

 lings! FisMng prevailed during the preceding two years, the fishing of 1886 was 

 lessexten- ° prosecuted to a more limited extent than would otherwise have 

 cutel Pr ° Se " keen tne case " ^ n numerous instances, owners of boats arranged to 

 form crews among themselves, and man one of their boats, leaving 

 the others unlaunched, rather than hire strangers and man them 

 all. At nearly every station along the coasts, a number of boats 

 iooo fewer were left on the beach. At Buckie, for instance, there were 174, 

 Jdoytdtand ancl at Banff, 40; and, altogether, the boats employed last year 

 smaller quan- were about 1000 fewer than in 1885. In these circumstances, 

 landed 1 ^ 6 ™^ tne c l uantlt y of herrings landed was, as might have been expected. 



considerably less than in either of the two preceding years ; and as 

 the fish-curers made their purchases at lower rates than in these 

 Results to years, it is hoped that the business of the season was fairly re- 



i ish-curers. , \, J 



muneratLve to them, 

 in 1885, Her- A striking feature of the summer herring fishery of 1885, 

 tSIStT' 1 wa - s fc ^ at maQ y in-shore grounds, where herrings had been found 

 Grounds where i& great abundance in previous years, but which had recently been 

 YrlsWno^was a ^ ^ deserted, were restored to their former fertility. These 

 got. 1&Un§ ^ aS grounds principally lay from one to eight miles from land in the 



