10 



Fortieth Annual Report 



but for the acquisition of several ex- Admiralty vessels by fishermen. 

 Increased attention was paid to great lining, and the largest steam 

 line fleet ever based on Aberdeen was at work during the early 

 summer. Large liners which were converted into trawlers during the 

 war had all resumed great lining by 1921. 



The number of motor boats was well maintained, but the fleet 

 was not fully employed during the year. The sailing fleet, particu- 

 larly in Orkney and Shetland and on the West Coast, was consider- 

 ably reduced, chiefly owing to the cancellation of the registry of old 

 large sized boats, and of a number of smaller boats which operated 

 during the war only. 



The total value of fishing vessels amounted to £6,226,818, making 

 with gear valued at £1,680,649 a total of £7,907,467, which figures 

 show a substantial decrease from those of the previous year. 



The decline in values was common to all classes of vessels, but 

 was specially pronounced as regards trawlers of the " Strath " type, 

 which were acquired during the year at a third of their original value. 

 During the war steam trawlers and drifters which had been rejected 

 for war service were eagerly acquired for fishing, but with the return 

 to more normal conditions their operations proved unremunerative 

 and they cannot now be sold. Difficulty was also experienced in 

 disposing of motor boats even at half their purchase prices. 



There was a marked decline in the value of herring drift net gear, 

 due not so much to the fall in prices o'f gear which occurred during 

 the year, as to the failure of the fishermen to maintain their stocks 

 at the accustomed standard. The straitened financial position of the 

 fishermen as a result of poor fishings in recent years, and the bleak 

 prospects of the industry in the immediate future, are at the root of 

 the decline, and have produced a grave problem in the Scottish drifter 

 ports. As already stated the Danish seine net or snurrevaad was in- 

 troduced to Scottish waters during the year, and the total extent of the 

 new gear in use at its close amounted to 281,400 square yards, valued 

 at £7998. 



During the year 93 boats valued at £82,564 were totally wrecked 

 or otherwise lost, and in addition 773 vessels sustained damage 

 estimated at £49,652, making the total loss on boats £132,216 as 

 compared with £147,220 for the previous year. The loss on fishing 

 material, chiefly in respect of damage to trawl gear, was £210,686, 

 being £71,117 less than in the previous year. The losses sustained 

 by Scottish vessels at the English and Irish fishings are not included 

 in the foregoing figures. 



The numbers of fishermen employed on the different types of 

 boat are shown in Table A. — No. I. (pp. 3-15), and at the different 

 creeks to which they belong in Table A. — No. II. (pp. 16-51), while the 

 number of persons engaged in the various other branches of the 

 Scottish fishing industry appears in Table F. — No. I (pp. 134-135). In 

 the various tables, fishermen are now classified as regularly or partially 

 employed instead of as resident or non-resident. The total number 

 of fishermen was 32,183, being less by over 4000 and 6000 respec- 

 tively than in 1920 and 1913. The shortage is largely due to a 

 reduction in the number of English drifters visiting Scotland for the 

 summer herring fishing, as the number of Scottish fishermen only 

 fell off by 1250 and 2100 as compared with those years. 



