of the Fishery Board for Scotland, 



48 



the fisheries, and the year under review was no exceotion. One man 

 was washed overboard from a steam drifter while the ship was proceeding 

 from the fishing grounds in Loch Glendhu to Stornoway. 



In the early hours of the morning of 1st January of the year under 

 report an appalling disaster occurred. H.M.S. lolaire was conveying 

 a large number of men, going home o,n leave from service, from Kyle to 

 Stornoway. When near the entrance to the harbour the vessel struck the 

 Beasts of Holm, and immediately became a total wreck. 206 men perished, 

 the great bulk of whom were Lewis fishermen, a,nd although the occurrence 

 was unconnected with fishing, it naturally falls to be noticed in the 

 records of the district fisheries. 



W. M. Wares, 



Fishery Officer. 



Fishery Office, 

 Stornoway, 20th January 1920. 



Barra District. 



Compared with last year, the returns for the district show the large 

 increases of 13,288 cwts. in quantity and £6364: in value, or 83 per cent, 

 and 66 per cent, respectively — exclusive of shell-fish, which shows a very 

 small decrease of £277 in value. 



The increase is chiefly in herrings, and may be accounted for by (1) 

 the operations of three steam drifters which worked on this coast and 

 landed during July and August 5060 cwts., valued at £2618, and (2) the 

 increased number of motor boats in the local fleet. 



The total decrease of 11 boats in the Means of Capture will not 

 affect the fisheries to any extent. They were old boats which were laid up 

 during the war, and have now become useless. Eight first-class and 4 

 second-class sailing boats were /converted into motor boats. The installa- 

 tions were carried out locally, and comprise 4 26-30 h.p., and 8 

 13-15 h.p. Kelvin engines, costing £400 and £200 each. Six of the boats 

 are owned by fishermen, but they required a little assistance from the 

 local merchants to purchase the engines. The other 6 are owned by 

 local merchants and hired out to local crews. 



The local herring fishing lasts for nine months, and is divided into 

 three seasons — ^a winter fishing (January to March), a spring fishing (April 

 to May), and a summer fishing (June-September). From October to 

 December the boats go to the Skye lochs or are laid up. The winter 

 fishing in January looked like creating a record, but bad weather kept 

 the boats ashore, just when the shoals had been located. Fourteen motor 

 and 8 sail boats were working between Castlebay and Lochboisdale, 

 and they landed 2046 crans, valued at £3555 — an increase of 319 crans, but 

 a decrease of £405 as compared with 1918. In the previous year 2 

 buying steamers operated from Castlebay, paying 70s to 100s. per cran, 

 while there was none in 1919 — ^hence the decreased value. 



The spring fishing opened on 10th May, nine stranger curers being 

 present. Herrings were very scarce and of miserable quality. Prices 

 ran from 10s. to 15s. per cran for curing, and in these circumstances the 

 boats frequently went to Mallaig, where higher prices were obtained for 

 freshing purposes. Up to the 28th June the weather remained cold and 

 stormy, and neither quantity nor quality improved. In the following 

 week similar weather and a blank fishing forced the principal curers to 

 close up their stations and transfer their workers to the East Coast. At 

 the end of July the weather changed, and the shoals of herrings then 

 appeared all along the coast, of which the boats took full advantage. With 

 the news of the fishing, the stranger curers returned and reopened their 



