of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



xlv 



employed was onl}»l per cent, under the number for 1913. Forty-one 

 per cent, of the total engaged in curing is returned from the Aberdeen- 

 shire ports ; ten years ago the proportion was 32 per cent. The 

 number of gutters proceeding from the crofting districts is on the 

 other hand decreasing. 



The building of fishing-vessels gave employment to 2666 persons, 

 as compared with 2403 in 1913, of whom 73 per cent, were engaged 

 at Aberdeen, which specialises in the construction of steam trawlers. 

 Elsewhere boat-building affords only intermittent employment, 

 except at the Moray Firth ports of Fraserburgh, Banff, and Buckie, 

 from whose yards the majority of the steam drifters built in Scotland 

 are turned out. 



The number of nets used in the fisheries is steadily increasing, and, 

 in spite of the extent to which machinery is now employed in their 

 manufacture, the number of persons which the industry employs is 

 also growing, being now 2418, as compared with 1613 ten years ago, 

 an increase of 50 per cent. 



Attention m.ay be di'awn in passing to the great extent to which 

 manual labour is still employed in fishing and fish-curing and in the 

 allied industries : the process of gutting and packing, for instance, is 

 still performed entirely by hand. In a number of industries, however, 

 the use of machinery has resulted in nmch economy of labour coin- 

 cidentally with increased production, and this requires to be borne 

 in mind in considering the numbers engaged in connection with the 

 fisheries over a period of years. 



The mechanical propulsion of vessels, and the haulage of nets 

 and lines by the steam capstan have enabled a practically constant 

 number of fishermen to bring a steadily increasing catch to port. 

 In barrel-making, again, the supply must have fallen short of the 

 requirements in recent years, with the usual accompaniment of a 

 rise in prices, but for the greatly increased output which the employ- 

 ment of machinery has rendered possible. 



As is well known, a large number of the Scottish fishermen were 

 attached to the Royal Naval Reserve, and were mobilised on the 

 outbreak of war : others joined the service subsequently, so that at 

 the end of the year well over 4000, or 12 per cent, of the total adult 

 male fishing population, were on active service in the Navy alone ; 

 while about the same number were engaged on board patrol vessels 

 acting under Admiralty orders, or in mine -sweeping. At the same 

 time, over 1000 had enlisted in the Ai'my. The mercantile marine, 

 general labouring work, such as coaling, at Naval bases, and mis- 

 cellaneous employments had each absorbed about 500 more ; so 

 that, in spite of the restrictions imposed on fishing, only a fraction 

 of 1 per cent, of the fishermen were unemployed at the end of 

 1914. 



From the other classes of male workers connected with the 

 fisheries somewhat less than 200 had joined the Navy, and about 

 1500 the ^Vi'my, while nearly 1000 had found temporary employment 

 in other occupations. Throughout the industry, excluding the 

 female w^orkers, it is gratifying to note that cases of actual want of 

 employment as the year closed amounted to only about one-half per 

 cent. ; of the female workers very few are in any case employed at that 

 season. 



