oj the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



xxi 



vessels. The rapidity of the transition which is taking place in this 

 respect is well exemplified in the following table. 



Table si lowing the Percentage of the Total Catch of Herrings 

 obtained by Steam, Motor, and Sailing Boats respectively in 

 each year since 1906 : — 



Sailing Vessels. 

 Percentage. 

 69 

 56 

 50 

 46 

 40 

 36 



From the above table it will be seen that the proportions of the 

 total catch contributed by steamers and sailing boats respectively 

 have been practically reversed within the short space of six years. 



At first sight it appears strange that the catch by motor boats, 

 whose number was increased by 50 per cent, during the year, should 

 have advanced by only 25 per cent., but the explanation is that the 

 great majority of the vessels of this type employed in herring fishing 

 are Clyde skiffs, whose catches are, of course, much smaller as a rule 

 than those of the larger vessels on the East Coast. 



A feature of the herring fishing of 1911, and one which is fraught 

 with far-reaching possibilities, was the employment of the steam 

 trawler in that industry. This innovation has been referred to in 

 previous reports, but during the year under review it sprang into 

 special prominence, owing to its rapid extension in the North Sea 

 towards the close of the year. It is not speaking too strongly to say 

 that the prospect of competition from such formidable rivals has spread 

 something akin to consternation in drift-net fishing circles, and a 

 short account of the genesis and progress of the new departure may at 

 this juncture appropriately be given. 



Trawling for herrings by means of the ordinary commercial steam 

 trawler, equipped with the otter trawl, dates from about the 

 beginning of the present century, and appears to owe its inception 

 to the enterprise of the fishermen of Milford Haven. 



At the outset the net used was the ordinary otter trawl net, either 

 laced in the wings or lined with a piece of herring net. Some five 

 years ago, however, a specially manufactured net was introduced 

 which is now used by nearly all the vessels engaged in this method of 

 herring fishing. These nets are made from a superior class of manilla 

 twine, and mounted in some cases with lighter ropes, than in the case 

 of the ordinary trawl net, and differ from the latter in dimensions 

 and size of mesh. The dimensions are : — Top part of net, from 66 to 

 80 feet long and from 90 to 114 feet on the head-line, according to 

 size of vessel, with 6-inch mesh ; the lower part of the net consists of 

 30 feet belly with meshes of from 2\ to 3^ inches, and 30 feet cod-end 

 with 2\ inch meshes, making 60 feet in all with a small mesh. 



The ordinary otter trawl is of the same dimensions, with the 

 exception of the cod-end, which is from 20 to 24 feet long, with a 

 mesh of 3| inches. 



Year Steam Vessels. Motor Vessels. 



Percentage. Percentage. 



1906 31 ^ — 



1907 44 — 



1908 50 — 



1909 54 — 



1910 56 4 



1911 59 5 



