4 



Appendices to Thirty-seventh Annual Report 



centre in Scotland) may be said to be wholly due to trawling. In 

 1889 Aberdeen landed 13 per cent, of the total catch of " demersal " 

 fish — i.e., of fish other than herring ; in 1914 Aberdeen landed 60 per 

 cent, or fths of the whole. 



As to the present extent of the industry in Scotland, it need only 

 be said that the quantity 6f|fish landed in 1913 was nearly 8,000,000 

 cwts., valued at close on £4,000,000, wliile Scottish fishermen also 

 landed at English ports some 2,500,000 cwts. of herrings, valued at 

 £1,000,000, these herrings being bought chiefly by Scottish firms for 

 cure and export. 



The fishing fleet, based mostly upon steam, brings in its catch from 

 all over the northern seas as far as the coast of Iceland and occasion- 

 ally even from the White Sea. The future of the industry depends 

 upon an expansion of the method by which it has grown in the past — 

 not, perhaps, so much by extension of the fishing areas (although in 

 that direction there may still remain something to be done), but 

 rather by an increase of the size and improvements in the design of 

 the vessels, especially the further extension of steam and motor 

 power ; by the deepening and enlargement of harbours ; by the 

 provision of better and cheaper means of distribution, including the 

 revision of railway rates and railway facilities in general ; and, not 

 least, by improvements in the methods of preservation both of a quasi- 

 permanent kind, such as pickling and tinning, and of a temporary 

 kind, such as the employment of refrigerating cars for railway transit. 



Owing to the sudden cessation of hostilities, the situation so far 

 as the comparative urgency of the problems facing us is concerned 

 has altered materially. Questions affecting demobilisation and 

 distribution are especially urgent, while other problems of re-estab- 

 lishment and development also require early attention. 



II. DEMOBILISATION. 



War was declared at a most inopportune moment for the herring 

 fishermen. The great summer herring fishing on the East Coast of 

 Scotland was at its height. The Scottish fishermen and shore workers, 

 however, responded readily to the call for men, and their services have 

 proved of inestimable value, especially in the dangerous work of 

 mine-sweeping and patrolling. 



(i) Fishermen and Vessels. 



So far as can be ascertained 25,000 men joined the services, and 

 302 steam trawlers and 838 steam and 100 motor herring drifters have 

 been requisitioned for Admiralty purposes. The demobilisation of 

 these men and of the vessels chartered is therefore a matter of some 

 importance to the industry, and it is gratifying to know that satis- 

 factory arrangements are being made for carrying it into effect. 



The rate at which men can be released is largely governed by the 

 rate at which vessels can be demobilised, the one being useless without 

 the other, and it is of importance that neither shall remain idle for a 

 day longer than is necessary, both in the interests of the owners and 

 men and of the national food supply. 



The large majority of the steam and motor drifters are owned by 



