of the 'Fishery Board for Scotland. 



XIX 



landed, the impression might be gained that matters were not so bad 

 as they have been stated to be, for it nmst be admitted that the 

 altogether exceptional earnings of the last two years hardly form a 

 fair standard of comparison, and only ten years ago the total sum 

 received by the herring fishermen in 1914 would have been considered 

 as marldng an eminently successful year. It must be borne in mind, 

 however, that even in that short time the industry has been rev^olii- 

 tionised by the growth of the steam-fishing fleet, as the result of 

 which the capital value of the herring fleet has been doubled, and it 

 is obvious, therefore, that a sum which would constitute a good return 

 for the capital invested ten years ago would be altogether inadequate 

 now. At the same time, the financial loss entailed by the premature 

 close of the Scottish fishing would not have been such a serious matter 

 if it had been found possible to prosecute the East Anglian fishing, 

 since the sum earned during the first six months of the year was 

 actually considerably greater than in the corresponding period of 



1913, but their forced abstention from the English fishing deprived 

 the fishermen and curers of a source of income which, calculated on 

 the average of the three preceding years, woidd have yielded an 

 additional revenue of £636,000. 



The total catch of herrings in 1911 amounted to 4,383,265 cwts., 

 valued at £1,339,046, as compared with 4,449,323 cwts. and £2,087,754 

 in the preceding year. The decrease in quantity was due solely to 

 the collapse of the autumn fishing, as both the winter and early 

 fishings show large increases, the two latter having been, as a matter 

 of fact, the highest and second highest respectively on record. The 

 decrease in value is very marked, and was due, quite apart from the 

 large shortage in the yield of the autumn fishing, to the fact that 

 prices fell from the inflated standard of the preceding year to their 

 normal level. 



The influences which forced up prices in 1913 were detailed in last 

 year's Report, and need not be recapitulated. Some explanation 

 of the heavy drop which took place during the year under review is 

 necessary, however, and it is to be found in the fact that an under- 

 standing was arrived at among the Continental buyers to refrain 

 from transactions in the early immature fish, over which they had 

 incurred serious losses in previous years. A general tendency had 

 also manifested itself on this side to defer the opening of the fishing, 

 which the knowledge of the intentions of the Continental importers 

 served to strengthen, and the result was that in 1914 the season was 

 considerably further advanced before the full strength of the fleet was 

 engaged. It is true that once the fishing was in full swing, curers 

 conducted operations on quite as large a scale as before, but as the 

 landings were much heavier, the competition among them at no time 

 became so keen as in the previous season, and prices remained at a 

 fairly moderate level throughout the early fishing. 



The extent of the fall in prices is strongly brought out by ^ com- 

 parison of the average prices per cwt. realised for herrings in 1913 and 



1914, the figures being respectively 9s. 4Jd. and 6s.. Id. 



As was the case in the preceding year the fishing fell away rapidly 

 during July, and the alarming way in which the landings dwindled 

 is well illustrated by the following table showing the weekly catches 

 from 22nd June to 25th July : — 



