xxxvi 



Second Annual Report of the 



WEATHER, 



Weather 



not favourable 



for Fishing. 



82 Fishermen 

 drowned. 



Property 

 destroyed. 



Long Voyages 

 out and Home. 



During last year the fishermen experienced rather more than 

 the usual interruptions by unfavourable weather. Long periods 

 of calms, with occasional storms intervening, formed the general 

 features of the most important period of the season, at which time 

 large shoals of fish were upon the coast. This was particularly 

 the case in regard to the stations of Eyemouth, Montrose, Moray 

 Firth, Lewis, and Barra. There were, however, comparatively few 

 sudden and violent gales, and happily the loss of life at sea and 

 damage to property was not so great as in some preceding years ; 

 nevertheless, 82 fishermen were drowned while prosecuting their 

 calling — 65 on the east coast, and 17 on the west coast. The 

 quantity of property destroyed was about the average of previous 

 seasons. The fishing being now mainly prosecuted at a great 

 distance from land, entailing long voyages out and home, the state 

 of the weather has become of much more importance than was 

 formerly the case, when the herring shoals were chiefly found 

 inshore. 



EAST COAST HERRING FISHERY. 



East Coast 



Herring 



Fishery. 



East Coast 

 Districts. 



Following the course adopted by us last year, we shall now give 

 some details, taken from the Reports of the inspectors and district 

 fishery officers, regarding the herring fishery of 1883 in each of 

 the twenty-six districts into which the coasts of Scotland are 

 divided, beginning with the seventeen on the east coast. These 

 are : — Eyemouth, Leith, Anstruther, Montrose, Stonehaven, Aber- 

 deen, Peterhead, Fraserburgh, Banff, Buckie, Findhorn, Cromarty, 

 Helmsdale, Lybster, Wick, Orkney Isles, and Shetland Isles. 



Eyemouth 

 District. 



Takes limited 

 in June and 

 July. 



Abundant 

 Fishing in 

 August. 



Large Shoal 

 left after 

 Spawning. 



Average catch 

 of Season. 



Steam Tugs 

 Towed Boats. 



In Eyemouth district the average number of boats employed was 

 432. The fishing commenced with a small fleet early in June, but 

 the takes were very limited till the beginning of August, when the 

 weekly average catch was about 12 crans per boat. Unfavourable 

 weather then set in, and for some time the fishermen were detained 

 in harbour two or three nights a week. On 18th August an Eye- 

 mouth boat landed a take of 121 crans, which realised £253. The 

 best week of the season was that ended 25th August, which 

 yielded the high average of 59 crans per boat. The herrings were 

 got close inshore, and were of good quality ; and it was observed 

 that a large shoal which had yielded the most productive fishing 

 left the coast about the end of August immediately after spawning. 

 Thereafter, the fishing was continued, but with very partial success, 

 till the middle of September, when it closed with a gross average 

 catch of 121 crans for each of the 432 boats which had on an 

 average been engaged, against 157 crans in 1882 for 381 boats. 

 During a part of the season the fishermen at Eyemouth had 11 

 steam tugs employed in towing their boats at a weekly cost of 

 £500. The services of these tugs were of great value, more parti- 

 cularly in the best week of the fishing, the weather at that time 

 having been calm. 



