.of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



8 



period of the year which enabled the committee in charge to j&x a uniform 

 price for the cured article. All these factors contributed to make the 

 scheme a success, a fact that was much appreciated by the fishermen. 



Had the weather been favourable it is questionable if all the fish that 

 such a large fleet would have brought ashore could have been dealt with 

 by the existing staffs of buyers and workers. 



In pre-war years an extensive trade was carried on with Grermany 

 in fresh herrings put up in ice and salt. Last season the trade in this 

 respect was negligible. Fielding was largely in the hands of Scottish curers, 

 who were formerly dependent for the disposal of their goods upon the 

 markets of Grermany and Russia. These markets for pickled herrings 

 are meantime practically closed owing to the financial positions of these 

 countries. A sudden collapse, however, of the evils which are at present 

 hindering the development of Russia may take place at any time, and 

 there will then be no Kmit to the possibilities of Russia as a herring market. 

 With wonderful powers of recuperation she would rapidly recover from her 

 terrible wounds, and the work of reconstruction might be confidently 

 expected to proceed apace. 



In the meantime the only thing left to the trade is to endeavour to open 

 up new markets. They should not be difficult to find, but they would 

 require a great deal of developing and opening up. British curers might 

 endeavour to secure a share of the trade which Holland monopolised for 

 many years by putting up herrings in kegs and exporting them in large 

 quantities to the United States and Canada. It is assumed that this is a 

 branch of the fish-curing trade from which the Dutch have ousted British 

 curers and exporters, but surely this is a false assumption. 



Some curers have been doing a large and lucrative business recently by 

 exporting ungutted herrings to France and Belgium. These on arrival 

 are converted into reds, and this of late years has proved to be a growing 

 industry. Scottish curers should endeavour in future to continue and 

 develop this trade, which would absorb a large quantity of herrings 

 annually. 



An increasing proportion of pickled herrings is now exported to 

 America. Here again there is room for development. 



At one time during 1919 difficulties as regards wages and conditions 

 of employment were experienced in connection with the herring curing 

 industry. Fortunately the satisfactory settlement of the wages question 

 brightened up the coopering trade, and all the men settled down to work 

 with cheerfulness and confidence. The difficulty, however, in obtaim'ng 

 stock for the herring fishing of 1920 will be a matter which will no doubt 

 concern the curers. There is a a serious shortage of raw material, such as 

 stave w^ood and hoops, and o\^ang to the lack of transport these will be 

 difficult to obtain. So great are the difficulties and uncertainties in secur- 

 ing supplies that curers and barrel manufacturers are seizing every oppor- 

 tunity of purchasing materials for the purpose of future output. 



The great-hne season was never attended with more profitable results. 

 Catches of cod, Ung, and skate were not exceptionally heavy, but the 

 demand was very keen. Wonderful shots of haUbut, however, came from 

 grounds which had been considered depleted before the war, and it is 

 anticipated that such North Sea areas as the " Patch," the " Reef," and 

 the Viking Bank, which were still bestrewn with mines in the spring and 

 early summer of 1919, will yield great results in 1920. 



The^esults of the small-line fishing were not so remimerative as in 1918. 

 Although the total landings show only a sUght falhng off, there has been a 

 considerable decrease in the value, the average per cwt. being only a little 

 more than half that of the previous year. A feature of the small-fine 

 fishing has been the great increase in the number of motor boats employed, 

 c 



