64 



Appendices to Fortieth Annual Report 



The prospects for trawling are meantime none too bright, but working 

 expenses are gradually becoming less, and the cost of vessels almost as 

 low as before the war, but the landings of immature fish require to 

 be reduced as much as possible before trawl-owners can expect high 

 earnings. 



The quantity of trawled fish dispatched direct from Granton to 

 Glasgow, usually by special train every morning, was 182,222 cwts., as 

 against 202,817 cwts. in the previous year. About one-half of the trawl 

 catch is sent there daily, the remainder being disposed of at Newhaven 

 market. 



The winter herring fishing in the Firth of Forth was prosecuted from 

 January to April by a fleet of about 100 motor yawls with better results 

 than in 1920, and the bulk of the catch was brought to Newhaven, where 

 the most of the buyers congregated. The largest part of the catch was 

 secured by seine-net crews in the vicinity of Burntisland and St. David's. 

 The quality of the herrings was similar to that of 1920, varying from 

 good to mixed. 



Sprat fishing was, in point of quantity, successfully prosecuted in the 

 upper reaches of the Firth of Forth during the months of November 

 and December, but owing to the small size of the fish there was only an 

 indifferent demand for them. The result was that no less than 5211 

 crans had to be sold to farmers for manure at a nominal price at Alloa 

 and Kincardine, where the heaviest catches were got. Owing to the 

 poor market for sprats at Newhaven the local fishers agreed that daily 

 landings should be restricted to 12 crans a boat, and that only portions 

 of the fleet should fish alternately, while 10s. per cran should be 

 demanded as a minimum, price. This arrangement appeared to work 

 with a fair measure of success from a fisherman's point of view. 2540 

 barrels of partially cured local sprats were exported, the most of which 

 went to Gothenberg, where they are tinned and, it is said, subsequently 

 sold as sardines. 



Owing to the failure of the Scottish and English herring fishings line- 

 fishing received rather more attention than it has done for two years, 

 and during the coal dispute small-line crews reaped a rich harvest 

 owing to the meagre supplies of trawled fish. 



Flounder seine-net fishing was not so successfully engaged in as was 

 the case in the previous year. Plaice are evidently becoming less 

 plentiful in the waters where this mode of fishing is permissible. Only 

 one small catch was landed by a crew using a Danish seine net. 



Crab and lobster fishings were pursued with good results by crews 

 from Cockburnspath, Dunbar and North Berwick, although the number 

 taken of both classes of shell-fish was less than in 1920, which was a 

 very prolific year. 



Anstruther. — The winter herring fishing, which is the chief seasonal 

 fishing carried on locally, was prosecuted from 4th January to 2nd 

 April by a fleet of from 70 to 90 motor boats and 6 steam drifters. 

 During January a good regular fishing was carried on, but from February 

 onwards the shoals were spotty, and results were often disappointing. 

 The season, however, was a great success as compared with the failures 

 of the six previous years. The quality throughout was generally good, 

 and prices ranged from 13s. to 135s. per cran with an average of 39s. 3d. 

 per cran. 



All the District steam drifters and about 40 of the first class motor 

 boats annually prosecute the great-line fishing during the spring and 

 early summer. The motor boats did fairly well last season, but not the 

 drifters, because of the coal dispute. Some good catches were obtained 



