of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



185 



ike latter half of the year it was noticeable that they were more continu- 

 ously working on the grounds about 80, 90, 100, to 160 miles N.E. and 

 easterly from Girdleness, Buchan Ness, and Rattray Head, and most 

 of the heavy catches were obtained on these areas. In some past 

 years complaints were frequently heard that the catch contained too 

 great a proportion of very small haddocks and whiting, which did not 

 contribute much to the earnings, but these small fish did not appear so 

 numerously this year, and, in any case, there has grown up in recent 

 years a large demand for small haddocks for the fish-frying shops, 

 which give facilities for the profitable disposal of this class. In 

 general, therefore, the trawling industry was again fairly prosperous, 

 although not quite so successful as in the preceding year. 



The herring fishery of the Firth of Forth is not now of much 

 importance as compared with its success of a century ago, or in com- 

 parison with the great catches landed at the principal fishing ports of 

 the Kingdom. It is here principally a winter fishing, carried on by 

 some 40 to 60 yawls during the months from January to April. It 

 produced in all 3134 crans, or 57 crans less than in 1911. But it is 

 still on the herrings that the local sail-boat men depend for their 

 principal source of income — on the herrings, that is, which they catch 

 and land at the great Scottish and English fishing centres to which they 

 resort annually. The fishermen who engage in the herring fishing at 

 distant centres now chiefly belong to Cockenzie and Fisherrow, and 

 possess in all about 90 large sailing boats, 7 motor boats, and 5 

 steamers. The bulk of these were employed in the Berwick district 

 during the summer, and there, unfortunately, the fishing was a failure, 

 and for some reason they did not proceed in such large numbers as 

 usual to the Southern English stations in the autumn, and therefore 

 lost, to a considerable extent, the remunerative earnings which resulted 

 there. 



For some few years past good hopes were being built on the produce 

 of the sprat fishery of the Firth of Forth, which had been bringing in 

 a welcome addition to the earnings of the Newhaven men especially. 

 From being a despised and neglected product, the sprat suddenly rose 

 in importance by reason of the fact that it has become, in recent years, 

 a substitute, in preserved form, for the sardine and anchovy. The 

 sprat has always been rather erratic in its movements, coming in great 

 abundance or not at all, and in its usually expected season — winter 

 and early spring — it came not at all in 1912, and this district lost about 

 £2000 in consequence. 



The line fishery continues in a languishing and generally unprofitable 

 condition. Its pursuit does not provide a profitable return owing to 

 the scarcity of fish on the nearer grounds, and, as it is, the men 

 engaged in it just manage to supplement the earnings from other 

 sources by a little inshore fishing, principally during the winter and 

 spring. 



The shell-fisheries of the district are fairly important, having a value 

 of about £5000 annually, and in point of value are about as productive 

 as any in Scotland. The fishery is carried on principally on the 

 southern shores of the Firth of Forth, and the chief kinds obtained are 

 crabs and clams. 



A considerable quantity of partially-cured codfish was brought into 

 Leith in course of the year from Iceland and Faroe by vessels belonging 

 to these islands, and by the regular trading steamers; and supplies of 

 the same kind were also brought from Hull and Grimsby. During the 

 winter, too, frequent consignments of Swedish fresh herrings were de- 

 livered at Granton by the regular trading steamers, and supplies of 

 Norwegian herrings came into the district via Hull, the bulk of which 

 was kippered and consumed locally. 



