of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



53 



The bulk of the fishing in the Sound of Kilbrannan is on the Cantyre 

 coast. In the early part of the year, when a commencement is made 

 on a small scale usually, the first attempt is a little south of the Island of 

 Davaar, which lies at the mouth of the Campbeltown Loch (March 31st). 

 As the season advances, the herring seem to move northwards, and in the 

 best part of the season are found in largest quantities near the Isle of 

 Ross (about seven or eight miles north of Campbeltown), about Carradale, 

 in the vicinity of Cour, and close to Skipness Point. This year a very 

 heavy fishing was secured near the Isle of Eoss in the latter half of 

 October, and the season then closed. The herring are thought to take to 

 deep water, and no doubt ultimately pass the south of Arran on their 

 way to the Ayrshire coast. 



In the Rothesay district (which includes the island of Arran) there has 

 been little fishing during recent years until the close of the Loch Fyne 

 fishing. In the month of October one or two large shoals pass down 

 the Sound of Bute on their way to the Ayrshire coast. Mr Skinner has 

 given me the following account of the route taken by these fish. During 

 the week ending 10th October there was an extensive fishing in Pirnmill 

 Bay (Arran). The shoal on visiting this bay was cut up, and in the 

 following week the fishermen again fell in with the herring off Sannox 

 (Arran), and also off Garroch Head (Bute). For three or four weeks there 

 was a general fishing by drift-net off Garroch Head. By the 14th 

 November the same class of herring was caught in Port Crawford and 

 Ardneil Bays on the Ayrshire coast. On leaving these bays the herring 

 were next met with off Ardrossan. Up to the 28th November the 

 herring were in good condition, and equal to those found in Loch Fyne. 

 After that date the fish were thin and poor. The fishermen state that 

 the fish of inferior quality were caught in shallow water, and were 

 generally seen playing at the surface, and that the large and heavy fish 

 had then taken to deeper water. 



The whole of this evidence appears to show that besides a small supply 

 of local herring — what the fishermen term ' ground keepers ' — there are 

 probably at least two migratory races of herring in the Clyde Estuary. 

 The one spawns off Ballantrae in February and March, and the other in 

 the Campbeltown district in May. It is probable that both these races 

 reach Loch Fyne in the summer. Nevertheless, the upper portion of the 

 Sound of Kilbrannan is almost as rich a feeding ground as Loch Fyne 

 itself, and it is difficult to say whether certain fish do or do not pass 

 Skipness Point. In the autumn the various shoals on leaving Loch Fyne 

 divide at the Cock of Arran. The majority pass down the Sound of Kil- 

 brannan, the remainder follow along the Sound of Bute, and reach the 

 Ayrshire Coast in November. 



On both sides the fish are reported to take to deep water before the 

 end of November, and are then lost sight of. I am not inclined to think 

 that the smaller fish caught off the Ayrshire coast (Ardrossan) in the 

 winter are those which visited Loch Fyne in the summer. Where these 

 fish come from or whether they form j>art of the fish which spawn at 

 Ballantrae a few months later I am not at present in a position to say. 



The fishing commenced earlier than usual during the past season, and 

 also closed before the usual time. In 1882 fishing commenced about 1st 

 June, and continued until about the middle of December, October being the 

 best fished month. The fishing of 1883 commenced and finished about 

 the usual time, viz., June and October. The fishing of 1884 commenced 

 about the 1st of May and closed about the end of August. During the 

 past season the drift-net fishing was a comxplete failure, and very few 

 boats went out ; nearly the whole of the fish .were landed by trawlers. 



