of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



i2 



their contents. The loss caused by the two fires was estimated at £12,000. 

 In each case the loss was wholly or partially covered by insurance. At the 

 close of the summer fishing season, the rebuilding of the ruined properties 

 was commenced, and, at the end of the year, the work of restoration had 

 almost been completed, and the three kippering premises were in a condi- 

 tion to admit of their being used during the winter herring fishing of 1920. 



At Wick and Thurso a number of old kippering premises were renovated 

 and equipped, and the kippering capacity of the district was thereby greatly 

 increased. At Wick a factory was also built and equipped with machinery 

 for the production of fish guano. The addition of this factory to the one 

 which was previously in operation at Wick will insure the curers' getting 

 a speedy clearance of all herring gut and fish offal from their curing yards 

 and fish -houses, and should result in a large increase in the local output 

 of oil and fish guano. 



It mil be evident, from the quantity of fish dealt with in the year 1919, 

 that a good step has already been made towards the reorganisation of the 

 fishing industry of the district. Shortages of working material — bunker 

 coal, fishery salt, barrel staves, hoops, box-wood, etc., — due chiefly to 

 transport difficulties, hampered progress considerably. These conditions, 

 however, will be remedied as shipping facilities increase. 



The following statement shows the average prices received by the 

 fishermen for the principal kinds of fish landed in Wick district in 1919, 

 and 1918. 



Herrings. Cod. Haddock. Hahbut. Skate, 

 per cwt. per cwt. per cwt. per cwt. per cwt. 

 s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. 

 1919 . . . 10 2 34 8 20 lOf 109 8^ 23 0 

 1918 . . . 25 0 58 4 40 8 147 5| 30 IJ 



A large percentage of the haddocks returned for the district are landed 

 at outlying creeks on the North Coast, remote from the railway, hence the 

 reason for the comparatively low value of these fish. 



Alexander Wood, 



Fishery Officer. 



Fishery Office, 

 Wick, Afril 1920. 



Orkney District. 



- Despite the fact that the fishermen were no longer hampered by the 

 stringent restrictions on fishing operations which were in force during the 

 war, the results of the fisheries of Orkney district for the year 1919 were 

 rather disappointing. Hopes were entertained that during the year the 

 industry would be to a great extent re-established, and that a great im- 

 provement on the results for the preceding year would be recorded. 

 Unfortunately, however, these expectations were not realised, mainly 

 because the principal herring fishing grounds to the eastward of the 

 Orkneys were occupied by extensive minefields, which could not be cleared 

 up before the end of the summer. In the spring, notice to that effect 

 was given to fishermen and fishcurers, who, accordingly, made no pre- 

 parations for the catching and curing of herrings in the district, and this 

 most important branch of the industry received little attention during 

 the summer. In normal pre-war years the herring fishery accounted for 

 about 90 per cent, of the total quantity and value of all fish landed in 

 Orkney district, whereas in 1919 it ajCcounted for only 38 per cent, of the 

 total quantity, and 10 per cent, of the total value. 



