52 



Appendices to Fourth Annual Report 



Migration. 



The probable course followed by the herring on their way from Ballan- 

 trae to Loch Fyne has been already indicated. It is, of course, possible 

 that some of the shoals keep to the east of the Island of Arran and enter 

 Loch Fyne by way of the Sound of Bute, but I have as yet no evidence 

 in favour of this view. The general opinion amongst the fishermen and 

 the locality in which the earlier captures are made seem to show con- 

 clusively that the majority of the fish traverse the Sound of Kilbrannan. 



During the early part of May several large shoals of herring entered 

 Loch Fyne, and before the end of the month the bulk of them had settled 

 along the east side of the loch from Otter Spit to opposite Tarbert. For 

 many years very few herring have been taken in Upper Loch Fyne. 

 About the middle of June a large shoal of herring entered the upper loch 

 this year, and for eight or ten days a good fishing was obtained between 

 Minard and Otter Spit. The herring commenced to leave the shallow 

 waters on the east side of Loch Fyne early in July, and by the end of the 

 month the fishing north of Tarbert was brought to a close. As the fish 

 begin to leave the neighbourhood of Otter Spit they congregate mainly 

 near the west shore, between Tarbert and Skipness, and the fishing remains 

 in that locality until the close of the season. 



While in Loch Fyne the movements of the herring shoals are doubtless 

 to a great extent dependent on the supply of food. It appears, however, 

 that the fish do not usually follow their food about from place to place, but 

 remain in certain districts for a considerable time. In some cases the same 

 class of fish are found on the same ground year after year. Mr Allan tells 

 me that for the last three seasons a shoal of large herring of superior quality 

 has visited the vicinity of the North Yellow Island in the first week of 

 July and left it again at the end of the month. It has also been noticed 

 that the same class of herring make their appearance off Laggan towards 

 the end of July in each year, and generally supply a good fishing. 



In the majority of cases the various shoals seem to change their quarters 

 frequently, and I have often been impressed by the marked contrast 

 between the class of fish taken on the same ground at two consecutive 

 hauls. Again, it is no uncommon thing two crews working within a few 

 yards of each other to obtain entirely different classes of fish. In some 

 cases there may be a difference of two inches in the average size of the 

 herring in each haul, in others the contrast is one of quality. The same 

 ground is often occupied by distinctly different shoals during certain parts 

 of the day or night. It often happens that when a crew get a haul of 

 small herrings in the evening, they obtain a take of fine large herring by 

 working over the same ground again in the early morning. 



The herring leave Loch Fyne gradually. During the past peason the 

 migration commenced about the 1st of August, and the shoals were then 

 followed further and further down the Sound of Kilbrannan. Fishing 

 north of Skipness practically ceased in September, but good hauls were 

 made near the mouth of the loch until the middle of October. The last 

 catch of herring in Loch Fyne was on the 1st of November. The fishing 

 in the Sound of Kilbrannan extended until the end of October, and a large 

 number of fish spawned during that and the previous month on the Can- 

 tyre shore. On leaving Loch Fyne there is no doubt that the whole of 

 the herring do not return along the Sound of Kilbrannan. For the past 

 three or four years a part at any rate have been found in the Sound of Bute. 

 The Fishery Officer at Campbeltown (Mr Hendry) has supplied me with 

 the following account of the movements of the herring in his district : — 



