xxxiv 



Second Annual Report of the 



Harbours. the people from the village, who had to go into the water for the 

 purpose. The gross cost of the harbour will be about £6000. Of 

 this sum £1500 has been contributed by the trustees of the late 

 Sir James Matheson, Bart., and the remainder is being paid by us. 

 The harbour will be about an acre in extent, and it will largely 

 tend towards the development of the fishery in that part of Lewis. 

 It may also be mentioned that the works have been so designed as 

 to be capable of extension at any future time. 

 Findochty The works originally contracted for at Findochty harbour, Banff- 



Harbour, shire, were begun by the old Fishery Board, and they are now 

 finished. They consist of a pier about 540 feet in length, on the 

 western side of the creek, and the excavation of the interior of 

 the harbour to the level of low water of spring tides. The only 

 work now in progress is a short breakwater for the protection of 

 the harbour. This breakwater has been contracted for, and has now 

 been extended to about half its full length. The new harbour is 

 highly appreciated by the fishermen, and will afford accommodation 

 and shelter for a large number of boats. 

 Crovie Landing In regard to the landing slip at Crovie, reported on by the 

 sli P- engineers, this station lies about one mile east of Gardenstown and 



seven miles east of Banff. There is an entire want of harbour 

 accommodation at the place, and there are no natural facilities 

 whatever for the construction of a harbour, where the fishing boats 

 could be kept in safety during bad weather. About sixty boats 

 belong to the fishermen residing in the village, but only about 

 twenty of them, of the smallest class, are able to prosecute the fish- 

 ing from the station, the others having to leave and fish from other 

 places. The small boats carry on the haddock fishing during eight 

 months of the year, and have to be hauled up every night after 

 discharging their fish, their ballast requiring on each occasion to be 

 thrown out and taken on board again before proceeding to sea. 

 There is a small inlet in the high ground at the top of the sea 

 beach, at the mouth of a burn, where the hauling-up process is 

 accomplished ; and what the fishermen desired was to have con- 

 structed at this place, a landing slip running obliquely across the 

 beach, and a part of the beach smoothed in order to facilitate the 

 process : — the direction of this slip to be such that the waves 

 would fall on the outerside of it, and so give a certain amount of 

 protection in moderate on-shore winds. The engineers reported 

 that the construction of the proposed slip, and the carrying 

 out what was otherwise suggested, would be of very great advantage 

 to the fishermen. It was estimated that the cost of the whole 

 works, inclusive of engineers' fees, &c, would not exceed £1200 ; 

 and having given the matter our best consideration, we resolved 

 to order them to be carried out, on condition that the fishermen 

 would contribute £300 towards the expense. This condition having 

 been complied with, the works were begun, and will be finished 

 this season. 



Harbour 106 *^ ne ^ 6nermen °f St Monance, to their great credit, unaided by 

 any public grant, erected a good harbour there, at a cost of about 

 £15,000. The increased size of the boats now engaged in the 

 fisheries rendered it absolutely necessary that some rock should 

 be excavated, and the outer entrance channel to the harbour 

 widened, but the fishermen were quite unable to raise the amount 



