30 



Appendices to Thirty-seventh Annual Report 



the greater part of the year, to import fish from other centres. In order 

 to counteract the expenses of transit thereby entailed, it is desirable to 

 confine purchases as far as possible to gluts, when prices are abnormally 

 low, and as gluts cannot be predicted but may occur at any time and on 

 anv part of the coast, it becomes necessary to have some organisation 

 whereby they may be taken advantage of — by retaining the services of 

 purchasing agents at the various centres or otherwise. A glut of herrings 

 is undoubtedly the tinner's opportunity. 



The seasonal difficulty is not so much in evidence on the West Coast, 

 where at Mallaig and in the Clyde herrings are landed in larger or smaller 

 quantities practically all the year round. 



As regards the second requirement, herrings of a size and quality 

 suitable for tinning may be said to be obtainable at practically all the 

 fishing centres. It is true that on the East Coast and in Shetland large 

 and medium herrings predominate in the landings during the greater part 

 of the year, but small herrings of the " niattie " class, which are emi- 

 nentlv suitable for tinning, are landed throughout the whole season, and 

 even if it is not always possible to obtain the necessary supplies in bulk 

 at the quay side it should be possible to do so by arrangement with 

 picklers, who grade their fish according to size, and who would in all 

 probability be prepared to dispose of their small herrings. 



The herrings landed at Mallaig are generally suitable for tinning, 

 while those taken in the Clyde, while very variable in size, usually furnish 

 a substantial proportion of the smaller sizes. 



It is clear, however, that if tinning is to replace pickling to any sub- 

 stantial degree, it cannot be confined to the smaller fish. Up to the present 

 herring tinning has gone along the same lines as sardine tinning, that is, 

 it has aimed at producing something in the nature of " delikatessen." 

 There seems to be no reason why larger herrings should not be put up 

 in bigger packages (which would also tend to reduce working expenses) 

 and a systematic attempt made to popularise them as a staple article of 

 diet. 



But herring fishing is full of vicissitudes, and there is a much better 

 chance of running a canning factory regularly and uniformly if opera- 

 tions are not confined to herrings alone, but are combined with the tinning 

 of other species, as occasion offers, such as sprats, mackerel, haddocks, 

 and other white-fish and shell-fish. 



Sprats are not infrequently landed in such quantities as to be un- 

 saleable, and one need only look to the great Norwegian sardine -tinning 

 industry to realise the potentialities in this connection. Mackerel, again, 

 command only a limited sale in their fresh condition, and for this reason 

 large quantities of this nourishing fish are caught annually only to be 

 returned to the sea ; consequently ample supplies of this species should be 

 obtainable for tinning purposes at a very cheap rate. Although, too, 

 the turning of white fish, such as haddocks and whitings has received 

 increased attention during the past two years, it is still practically in its 

 infancy, and in the past it has far too frequently happened that during 

 periods of plenty large quantities of small haddocks and other white fish 

 have, owing to the lack of demand, been thrown back into the sea or 

 sold to manure factories, which might have been preserved by tinning 

 had facilities existed and so made available for food. Then again little 

 or no attention has been given to the tinning of crabs, with which the 

 waters off many parts of the coast abound, but which it often does not 

 pay to market under present conditions. Crab tinning is making rapid 

 strides in other countries, and it behoves Scotland not to be left behind 

 in this development. 



The question of labour is, of course, an important one. Unless a 



