26 Appendices to Thirty-seventh Annual Report 



APPENDIX II. 



THE SHARE SYSTEM TN SCOTTISH FISHING VESSELS. 



As considerable interest is manifested from time to time in the " share ' 

 system in vogue among Scottish fishermen, the information on this subject 

 which was given in the annual report for 1911 is here reproduced in a 

 slightly expanded form. 



The great majority of steam drifters and liners and sailing boats 

 engaged in the Scottish fishing industry are owned by fishermen. Nearly 

 all the steam trawlers are owned by companies, but in recent years trawl 

 skippers have built or purchased trawlers, and this tendency is increasing. 



Vessels are acquired by the fishermen in various ways. In some 

 places (especially the Fifeshire fishing villages) the skipper alone, or the 

 skipper with members of his family, and in a few cases several fishermen 

 who may or may not be related, become partners in the purchase of a 

 vessel. In some instances they have managed to save sufficient money 

 to buy a drifter outright, but in the majority of cases their savings fall 

 short of the necessary sum. In the latter event they approach large 

 firms of fish salesmen, who sell their fish for them, or general merchants, 

 with whom they are in the habit of dealing, to become cautioners to the 

 bank for the amount required on a " bank cash credit." The banks 

 entertain this class of business provided the applicants are successful 

 and reliable fishermen, and that the sureties are men of substance and good 

 character. Should the cautioner be a fish salesman, he would naturally 

 expect to get the sale of the fish landed at certain ports, while in the case 

 of a merchant he would expect to get the borrower's custom in nets, coal, 

 oil, groceries, and other stores. 



The cash credit is worked in the same way as an overdrawn current 

 account, all the boat's receipts being paid in, and the interest is charged 

 on the day to day balances. At the end of the fishing the merchants 

 are paid for all nets, stores, etc., and the surplus is divided into three 

 shares — one-third being credited to the boat, one-third to the nets, and 

 one-third divided among the crew. Each member of the crew has so many 

 nets, and the " nets " share is divided in proportion to the number owned, 

 while the boat's share is devoted to the reduction of the sum borrowed 

 from the bank. 



The interest charged varies according to the rate fixed by the banks, 

 but it is always \ per cent, less than that charged for ordinary over-drafts. 

 The average cash account rate in 1911 was £5 4s. 8d. per cent. 



If it is necessary to employ men other than " share men " on board, 

 they are simply engaged at a weekly wage like the engineer and stoker and 

 cook. 



In the Moray Firth the mode of borrowing the necessary money is 

 somewhat different. There the fishermen frequently purchase vessels 

 themselves from their savings, and from money borrowed on the mortgage 

 of their houses. In other cases one-third of the purchase price is advanced 

 by the banks on a first mortgage, and (according to the fishermen's re- 

 quirements) part is obtained from fish salesmen, or the boat-builders 

 allow part of the purchase price to remain on second mortgage. A current 



