of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



17 



About the end of April shoals began to make their appearance 

 in the Kilbrannan Sound and fair catches were secured in May. 

 Transport facilities by steamer, on which the Clyde area is so 

 dependent, were, however, completely disorganised by the coal 

 dispute and a sympathetic strike by Glasgow dockers, and as 

 the herrings were in poor condition and prices were low, large 

 quantities had frequently to be dumped. Except for some good 

 catches secured in the vicinity of Skipness Point and Tarbert in 

 June and July, the fishing throughout the summer was very light. 

 Large shoals had evidently settled in the deep waters at the mouth 

 of Loch Fyne, but although a vigilant fleet were on the grounds all 

 the time they were unable to meet with any success until the shoals 

 commenced to move up to the shallower waters in the vicinity of 

 Ardrishaig and Otter Ferry, where very heavy catches were secured 

 in November and December, especially on two occasions when shots 

 of 250 to 300 crans were common, and the total landings amounted 

 to over 5000 and 6000 crans respectively for about 80 pairs of boats. 



7. Trawling for Herrings. 



Encouraged by the success of herring trawling in 1920, several 

 Aberdeen vessels fitted with special trawls, and others with their 

 ordinary nets adapted by means of lacing, began fishing for herrings 

 in the North Sea about the first week in August, a fortnight earlier 

 than in 1920, and for a time landed good catches from the Fladden 

 grounds 90 to 100 miles from Aberdeen. The quality of the herrings 

 was much inferior to that of the previous year, and fishing on the 

 whole was very partial, catches ranging from a few to 214 crans, and 

 a number of the vessels were obliged to complete their voyages in 

 quest of whitefish on other grounds. This added considerably to 

 working costs and several finished up in debt. The most successful 

 vessel grossed £3078 for 8 weeks, but for the majority the season 

 was far from satisfactory. 



A few Leith trawlers operated on the Dogger Bank in the autumn, 

 but met with no success, the total landings amounting to 2894 cwts., 

 valued at £2081. In October a Fleetwood trawler which had been 

 fishing off the Welsh coast landed 721 cwts. of herriDgs of good 

 quality at Glasgow, but as fair supplies of Loch Fyne herrings were 

 then on the market and prices were not satisfactory this venture was 

 not repeated. 



The total landings of trawled herrings in Scotland during the 

 year amounted to 18,772 cwts., valued at £11,954, as compared with 

 41,415 cwts. and £40,429 in 1920. 



As in 1920, a number of German vessels visited the Fladden 

 grounds, and the majority are understood to have had a successful 

 season. One vessel using a special trawl fitted with a third otter 

 board is reported to have landed over 700 crans in three trips, and 

 the innovation is regarded by the Germans as having proved 

 successful. 



8. Seasonal Prices. 



The average prices of herrings per cwt. on the East Coast, 

 Orkney and Shetland, West Coast, and all Scotland, for each season 



B 



