xlii 



Thirtieth, Annual Report 



The total quantity cured during the year was 2,046,747 barrels* 

 (Appendix D, No. I., p. 127), or nearly 283,000 barrels less than 

 in the preceding year. On the East Coast 1,146,070 barrels 

 were cured, in Orkney 179,726 barrels, in Shetland 548,971 

 barrels, and on the West Coast 171,980 barrels — decreases being 

 brought out on the East Coast of 200,000 barrels, in Shetland 110,000 

 barrels, and on the West Coast of 11,000 barrels, the only increase 

 being in the case of Orkney, where there was an increase of nearly 

 40,000 barrels. The latter is to be attributed almost wholly to the 

 striking development of the industry at Stronsay. Orkney district 

 figures for the last five years are instructive and would appear to 

 indicate that the central position of Stronsay as a landing place bids 

 fair to make it a favourite rendezvous for the large fleet of vessels 

 operating in the waters north of Wick. Going back to the year 1897, 

 the records of the district are instructive as illustrating the sudden 

 fluctuations which obtain in the herring fishery returns for any 

 particular locality over a period of years. 



They are as follow : — 



Year. 



Barrels. 



Year. 



Barrels. 



1897 - 



- 62,738 



1904 - 



- 55,414 



1898 - 



- 47,147 



1905 - 



- 63,308 



1899 - 



- 29,318 



1906 - 



- 59,249 



1900 - 



- 10,482 



1907 - 



- 63,931 



1901 - 



- 59,181 



1908 - 



- 74,894 



1902 - 



- 45,867 



1909 - 



- 68,003 



1903 - 



- 34,453 



1910 - 



- 140,050 







1911 - 



- 179,726 



The last two years show immense strides over any previous record, 

 and the prospects for the future are bright. The neighbouring 

 district of Shetland exhibits almost equally striking results, as will be 

 seen from the following figures : — 



Year. 



Barrels. 



Year. 



Barrels. 



1900 - 



- 416,789 



1906 - 



- 700,062 



1901 - 



- 636,729 



1907 - 



- 657,138 



1902 - 



- 486,745 



1908 - 



- 752,416 



1903 - 



- 489,654 



1909 - 



- 513,701 



1904 - 



- 814,839 



1910 - 



- 658,515 



1905 - 



- 1,024,044 



1911 - 



- 548,971 



The quality of the Shetland herrings last year (with the exception 

 of the May fish, which were very immature) was above the average. 



The origin of the word "klondyking" as applied to the fresh herring 

 trade with the Continent, which is now in universal use in Shetland 

 and along the East Coast, is of some interest as showing how words 

 are coined. It was first used at Lowestoft or Yarmouth, where this 

 branch of the trade attained its greatest dimensions and where it 



* It is well to explain that the forms obtained from the curers, from which these 

 statistics are compiled, give the number of barrels in a sea-stick state, i.e., before 

 they have been "pined," or allowed to settle down in the barrels, after which they 

 are filled up again. The returns of herrings branded and exported, on the other 

 hand, represent the barrels after being filled up ready for sale. The quantity used 

 in the process of filling-up is estimated at from 20 to 25 per cent, of the whole. 



