XX 



Thirty-first Annual Report 



to coimterbalanoe the deficiency at the older centres do so last 

 year, the landings in both Shetland and Fort- William districts falling 

 considerably short of tlie preceding year's totals. Happily, the winter 

 fishing was saved from reaching its nadir by a successful fishing which 

 was carried on in the vicinity of Loch Ryan, where 39,000 cwts. 

 were landed, as against 17,000 cwts. in 1911. 



It will be observed that the winter fishing is the only one in which 

 the landings by sail boats exceed those of the steamers, the reason 

 being that steamers seldom or never participate in the fishing in the 

 Firth of Forth. 



Slightly better prices were realised than in 1911, the respective 

 averages per cwt. being 5s. 2d. and 5s. 



Early Summer Herring Fishing. 



The early herring fishing, which is carried on principally in May 

 and June, resulted in a total catchof 2,102,122 cwts., valued at £628,817, 

 these figures representing increases of 181,804 cwts. and £224,639 

 respectively upon the totals for 1911. Of the quantity, 48 per cent, 

 was landed in Orkney and Shetland, 43 per cent, on the East Coast, 

 and only 9 per cent, on the West Coast — figures which indicate a strik- 

 ing divergence from the distribution which obtained a decade ago, 

 when the West Coast's share of the catch amounted to 37 per cent., 

 and the East Coast occupied the lowly position now taken by the West 

 Coast. The gradual shifting of the base of operations from the Atlantic 

 to the North Sea (in Shetland also it has been transferred from the 

 West to the East side of the islands) is a phase of the industry which 

 has frequently been commented upon in t;hese reports, resulting as it 

 has done in the trebling of the early summer catch within a decade. 

 The necessity for employing the large amount of capital invested in 

 steam drifters, coupled with the opening up of new markets for the 

 early fish, has been the principal factor in bringing about this evolution. 

 It is not yet certain, however, that the early fishing on the East Coast 

 will prove an asset of permanent value to the fishermen and curers. 

 The fish, as a rule, will not cure to keep for any length of time, and 

 prior to last year dealings in them in many cases resulted in heavy 

 losses. For good or ill, however, the old order of things has changed, 

 and if a continuance of the favourable conditions of 1912 could be 

 guaranteed, the future could be faced with equanimity. Unfortu- 

 nately, those conditions — cold weather and expanding markets — are 

 not likely to recur very frequently, at least in conjunction, but 

 at the same time it is certain that the expansion of the area of con- 

 sumption is far from having reached its limit, while the difficulty 

 presented by the perishable nature of the early fish will probably be 

 overcome by an extension of the system of cold storage. 



Of individual districts, Shetland, with a catch of 806,437 cwts., or 

 almost three times that of its nearest rival. Wick, easily took first 

 place ; while on the East Coast the catch at Wick, which took the 

 leading place, constituted a record for the port. On the West Coast 

 a welcome improvement occurred at Stornoway, where the catch of 

 1911 was considerably more than doubled — the figures being 

 respectively 35,039 cwts. and 84,803 cwts. — and this improvement 



