Thirty -first Annual iteport 



The Fife Harbours present difficulties, engineering and otherwise, 

 which are still under consideration. 



Intelligence. 



The Board's system of official telegraphic information between ports 

 at which a herring fishing is in progress was begun in a tentative 

 way in the j^ear 1895, when 3800 telegrams were first issued. Last 

 year the number of telegrams amounted to 5087. 



The telegrams are despatched daily at noon by the Board's Fishery 

 Officers from their own ports to every other port in Scotland at 

 which a herring fishing is then going on, and in the event of 

 additional information of value becoming known later in the day a 

 second telegram is despatched. Upon receipt they are exhibited 

 publicly at the fishmarkets and other public places, where they can 

 readily be seen by all concerned. 



The points on which the telegrams give information are (1) number 

 of arrivals of herring boats, (2) average catch per boat, (3) quality of 

 the fish, (4) range of prices, (5) position of chief fishing grounds, and 

 (6) nature of wind and weather. Duplicates of all these telegrams 

 are at the same time sent to the Head Office in Edinburgh. 



At the end of each week telegrams are sent by each District 

 Officer to the Board giving the catch for the week, the quantity 

 cured, the number of barrels branded under each brand, the quantity 

 exported, and the countries to which exported. This information is 

 tabulated, and a statement of the totals for the East Coast, Orkney 

 and Shetland, and the West Coast respectively is sent for publication 

 to the Press. 



A statement is also issued at the end of each month showing the 

 quantity of cured herrings of each description in stock in this 

 country. 



Information is also received from Germany, Holland, Norway, and 

 Sweden giving particulars, in so far as those countries are concerned, 

 of the catch, cure, and export of herrings and other sea-fish, and this 

 is also issued to the Press for the information of those interested. 



The publication of such information in the Press depends, however, 

 upon the convenience and the exigencies of the time and space 

 at the disposal of the various newspapers, many of which 

 do not circulate extensively among those most directly interested. 

 The Board therefore have had long in contemplation a publication of 

 their own in order to make directly available all the information at 

 their disposal to those engaged in the various branches of the fishing 

 industry. Hitherto they have not been enabled to succeed in this 

 object for the lack of funds. 



