of the, Fishery Board for Scotland, xliii 



position for the whole of Scotland with a cure of 658,515 barrels. As 

 showing the rapid development of the industry there, the following 

 figures are interesting : — 



Year. 



Barrels. 



Year. 



Barrels. 



1897 - 



- 177,018 



1904 - 



- 814,839 



1898 - 



- 266,791 



1905 - 



- 1,024,044 



1899 - 



- 354,545 



1906 - 



- 700,062 



1900 - 



- 416,789 



1907 - 



- 657,138 



1901 - 



- 636,729 



1908 - 



- 752,416 



1902 - 



- 486,745 



1909 - 



- 513,701 



1903 - 



- 489,654 



1910 - 



- 658,515 



It is interesting to note that two steamers were again engaged 

 regularly in carrying fresh herrings from Lerwick to Hamburg, and 

 occasionally additional vessels were chartered by the firm engaged in 

 the business. The preparations for carrying on the industry were on a 

 most extensive scale, many thousands of barrels and hundreds of tons 

 of salt being stocked for curing, while provision had also to be made for 

 coaling from 400 to 500 steam drifters, the total consumption for the 

 season being estimated as exceeding 50,000 tons. In addition to 

 several large coaling establishments on shore, there were over 20 coal 

 hulks moored at various places in the islands. 



On the West Coast the loch fishing was again a comparative failure, 

 and the places responsible for the great bulk of the fish cured were 

 Stornoway (70,763 barrels), Barra (58,232), and Glasgow (29,926)— 

 the total for the whole of that coast being 183,318 barrels. 



The kippering trade was in a fairly healthy condition, the total 

 herrings so treated amounting to 185,634 barrels,* or nearly 14,000 

 barrels in excess of the preceding year. Eyemouth, with 57,964 

 barrels, heads the list, and is followed by Peterhead (29,511 barrels), 

 Fraserburgh (21,200), Stornoway (15,975), and Aberdeen and Glasgow 

 each with a little over 13,000 barrels. 



The bloater or " red " herring trade does not show any sign of 

 developing. Last year the chief centres of the industry were Leith 

 (4700 barrels), Eyemouth (3496 barrels), and Aberdeen (2483 barrels). 



Curing on board of vessels at sea, which was at one time almost 

 universal in Scotland, as it still is in Holland, has been on the decline 

 for some years. Last year the faiJure of the West Coast loch fishing 

 still further contributed to make the total result a poor one. The 

 system is now^ confined practically to those places which are remote 

 from the markets, such as the West Highland lochs and the Hebrides. 

 The fisheries in these districts are subject to considerable fluctuation, 

 and curers consequently hesitate to establish permanent stations on 

 shore, except at those places where steamers make frequent calls, 

 finding it more convenient and economical to charter small carrying 

 steamers which can convey curing material from loch to loch as may 

 be required by the exigencies of the fishing. Last year thirteen 

 curing vessels were fitted out on the West Coast, and these were able 

 to obtain and cure on board 2413 barrels — a comparatively poor 

 average — while two vessels so employed in Shetland cured 686 barrels. 



The estimated value of herrings cured last year (Appendix E, 



^Kippers, bloaters, or "reds" and tinned herrings are given in barrels, although they 

 are not put up in barrels but in boxes and tins. 



