of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



213 



The high prices paid by curers for their fish caused a number of them 

 to sell oS the cured article as quickly as possible during the season, 

 even at a very small margin of profit, for fear the markets might take 

 a slump and leave them with a lot of dear herrings on their hands. 

 Some of the more speculative curers, however, kept the bulk of their 

 cure to the end of the season, and, as the price of cured herrings took a 

 sharp rise towards the end of August, these curers finished up with a 

 handsome profit. 



With the exception of a small quantity kippered at Kirkwall, and the 

 4428 crans which were exported fresh to the Continent, all the herrings 

 landed were cured gutted. Of the 187,205 barrels cured, 155,040 

 were exported direct, and the balance shipped coastwise. Of the direct 

 exports, Russia received 54, and Germany 46 per cent., but of those sent 

 coastwise the greater number found their way to the German markets. 



The completion of the new pier by the Harbour Commissioners — 

 towards the erection of which the Fishery Board contributed £3000 — 

 along with the three new stations, with landing-stages, which were 

 erected by curers at Papa, went a long way towards relieving the 

 congestion at Stronsay, but on many occasions throughout the season 

 the urgent need of deepening the channel and of more pier accommoda- 

 tion was painfully evident. It was quite a common occurence to see 

 from 30 to 60 steam drifters on the ground for two hours in the channel 

 before they got water into the harbour, while it frequently happened 

 that scores of boats were forced to wait sometimes from six to seven 

 hours in order to get a discharging berth, which caused them often to 

 lose a night's fishing. On very busy days some of the crews preferred 

 to salt their catch and proceed to sea again rather than wait for a berth 

 and lose a night's fishing. 



The Harbour Commissioners, however, are fully alive to the urgent 

 requirements of the port, and with the aid of a grant of £10,000 which 

 they have been promised from the Development Fund, they have 

 decided to go on with a scheme of development which will cost £20,500. 

 The scheme is to extend the old pier 300 feet and the new pier 200 feet, 

 at a cost of £13,000, while the channel and harbour basin is to be 

 dredged at a cost of £7500. 



Since the close of the summer fishing, ground for a new curing station 

 has been taken at Papa, but until the schemes referred to are sufficiently 

 advanced to give accommodation to a fleet of boats able to supply the 

 demands of the curing power already at Stronsay, the further 

 development of the port as a fishing centre will be greatly retarded. 



The following table shows the development of the herring fishing in 

 the Orkney district during the past four years : — 



Year. Total Crans landed. Total Value. 



1909 - - - 45,462 - - £59,259 



1910 - - - 93,089 - - 92,543 



1911 - - - 114,753 - - 136,760 



1912 - - - 154,605 - - 221,652 



The landings by English trawlers, which consisted chiefly of cod from 

 Icelandic waters, were all used for curing purposes, and exhibit a 

 decrease of 13,308 cwts. in quantity and £4580 in value from the figures 

 for 1911. This decrease is attributed to the national coal strike, which 

 caused a number of trawlers to be laid up for several weeks, with the 

 result that no trawled fish were landed during April, whereas in former 

 years considerable quantities were landed during that month. On the 

 other hand, the quantity landed by foreign trawlers and Faroe smacks 

 — which is not accounted for in the returns of fish landed as stated 



