of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



179 



expenses, and interest on borrowed capital, the earnings are practically 

 swallowed up ; but one need only compare the present with the former 

 condition of the fishing communities to see the prosperity which the change 

 has brought about. Moreover, the fishings are now more regularly 

 prosecuted, new grounds are searched out, manual labour is reduced t& a 

 minimum, and the industry has attained dimensions which could never 

 have been possible had no improvement in the craft taken place. 



The number of boats in which auxiliary motor power has been installed 

 has now reached 233, valued at £94,470, as compared with 75 boats, 

 valued at .£39,513, in 1909. The progress before that year was so slow 

 that it was not found necessary to deal with this class of boat separately in 

 the statistics. Of the number of such vessels, 35 per cenu. is credited to 

 the East Coast, 54 per cent, to the West, and the remainder to Orkney 

 and Shetland. The cost of the installation in the larger boats on the East 

 Coast varies from £450 to £500, while the Clyde or Lochfyne skiff 

 can be fitted with a very serviceable motor at the cost of about £70. The 

 utility of the motor for propulsion to and from the fishing grounds may be 

 gauged from the fact that the earnings of the crews who adopted the 

 installation on the East Coast, while employed at herring fishing, were 

 about midway between those of the sailing boats and the steam drifters. 

 On the West Coast, the average earnings of the crews who have adopted 

 the system were from 50 to 60 per cent, better than the average earnings 

 of those • who have not yet gone in for it. For the prosecution of the 

 fishing in the Clyde districts and lochs of the West Coast, motor propulsion 

 has proved invaluable. 



In the value of fishing gear there is a decrease of £4619 as compared 

 with 1910. The falling off in the quantity and value of gear is due to 

 fewer boats being now employed from the West Coast districts. 



A commencement was made at the great summer herring fishing earlier 

 than any previous date on record. 



In many respects the season was a most unsettled and anxious one for 

 everyone concerned — fishermen, curers, and buyers — on account of (1) the 

 heavy catches of immature fish brought in and the consequent low prices; (2) 

 the exceptional heat which prevailed during the season ; and (3) the 

 unsatisfactory state of the foreign markets in May and June. With 

 regard to (1), the landing of heavy catches of immature herrings was 

 entirely to the detriment of the fishermen themselves. Prices dropped to 

 a mere nominal figure, with the result that a voluntary close time for about 

 10 days was adopted at nearly all the principal stations on the coast. 

 There was practically no demand for these unripe fish. Thousands of 

 crans were either disposed of for manure or returned to the sea. 

 A limited quantity for kippering and freshing found a ready market 

 at fairly remunerative prices to the fishermen, but for curing the 

 experience was that they were unkeepable and blocked the markets 

 with goods vvhich were profitable neither to curers nor to buyers. 

 Foreign buyers deprecated the early commencement of the fishing. 

 Many who had sustained serious losses through their dealings in herrings of 

 the same description in 1910 refrained from purchasing the May and 

 early June cure. (2) The heat wave which prevailed for the larger part of 

 the season at home and on the Continent was another source of great 

 anxiety to the trade, particularly as regards the curing of these early fish. 

 The industry, as is well known, is carried on in the open, where scant 

 protection is available, and, although in many instances every precaution 

 was taken on this side in the covering and storing of these early herrings, 

 yet the high temperature in many cases left its mark upon the goods. On 

 the Scottish side the damage was not so apparent, but on arrival on the 

 Continent thousands of barrels were rendered practically valueless, while 

 others could not be looked at with a view to purchase until the cold 



