of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



v 



£5,991,693 — an increase in quantity of 233,460 cwts., and in value of 

 £2,346,678, as compared with the figures for 1917. The shell-fish 

 landed realised £74,895, so that the gross total value of the fisheries 

 was £6,066,588. This sum is by far the highest ever recorded, being 

 no less than £2,068,871, or 50 per cent, in advance of the previous 

 record, set up in 1913, when the catch was 136 per cent, greater. 



The feature of the fishing industry, which, indeed, dwarfed all 

 others, was the great and sustained increase in prices throughout the 

 year. The shortage of other foods, and particularly meat, combined 

 with the general, if illusory, prosperity of the country, led to the 

 keenest competition for the produce of the fisheries, with the result 

 that prices soared to hitherto unheard-of levels. On one occasion 

 herrings touched £16 per cran, while during one week in January the 

 average price per cwt. of all white fish sold in Aberdeen was £7, 9s. 2d. 

 In the interests of the consumer it became necessary to fix maximum 

 prices which, although they represented a very sensible reduction on 

 those which had been ruling, had perforce to be fixed at a level 

 sufficiently high to induce fishermen to brave the dangers attendant 

 on their calling. Under the stress of competition these prices, as in 

 the case of other commodities, became, except in comparatively rare 

 instances, the minimum throughout the remainder of the year, with 

 the result that the fishermen and others engaged in freshing and 

 kippering enjoyed the most lucrative season ever experienced. 



Numerous instances of the exceptional earnings realised by fisher- 

 men in all branches of the fisheries will be found cited in the annual 

 reports of the Fishery Officers (Appendix V., p. 36), the publication of 

 which has been resumed after an interval of three years. 



Herring Fishery. 



The quantity of herrings landed in Scotland in 1918 was 2,061,741 

 cwts., of the value of £2,537,110, these figures representing an increase 

 of 4 J per cent, in quantity, and of 62 per cent, in value as compared 

 with 1917. 



The following table shows the results of the Scottish herring 

 fishery during the last ten years : — 



Average 



Year. Quantity. Value. Price per 



Cwts. £ Cwt. 



1909 . . . 4,541,297 1,569,743 6/11 



1910 . . . 5,687,226 1,594,308 5/7 



1911 . . . 5,036,484 1,505,334 6/ 



1912 . . . 5,201,300 1,910,533 7/4J 



1913 . . . 4,449,323 2,087,754 9/4J 



1914 . . . 4,383,265 1,339,046 6/1J 



1915 . . . 703,096 441,980 12/6f 



1916 . . . 2,086,177 1,350,609 12/11J- 



1917 . . . 1,972,346 1,563,824 15/101 



1918 . . . 2,061,741 2,537,110 24/7 



The most outstanding fishing of the year was that prosecuted in 

 the Minch from January to March. Here operations could be carried 



