58 



Appendices to Thirty-seventh Annual Report 



installed were of all sizes, from 7 h.p. to 80 h.p., and of various 

 makes, including " Invincible," " Beardmore," " Gardner," " GlenifFer," 

 "Parsons," "Kelvin," and others. As compared with the year 1917, 

 the Means of Capture Returns show an increase of 26 in the number 

 of motor boats, viz. 10 large herring boats, 2 of the first class (30 to 

 45 feet keel), 12 of the second class, and 2 of the third class. Two 

 motor boats of the largest size were sold to owners in other districts, and 

 3 motor line boats were lost. During the progress of the war the number 

 of motor boats accredited to Wick district increased from 56 vessels 

 valued at £15,655 in the year 1914, to 94 vessels valued at £63,210 in 

 the year 1918. In the number of sail boats the returns for 1918 show a 

 falling off of 37, due principally to the installation of motors into these 

 vessels. 



Line fishing (principally hand line) was the most important of the 

 fisheries carried on in local waters in the year 1918, and this branch 

 furnished remunerative employment throughout the whole year to a 

 considerable number of the fishermen. It accounted for 45 per cent, of 

 the total quantity of fish landed within the district, and 49*5 per cent, 

 of the total value. Cod and codling made up 76 per cent, of the total 

 quantity landed from line boats, the remainder being principally haddock, 

 saithe, skate, and halibut. As compared with 1917, the returns of line- 

 caught fish show an increase of 2704 cwts. in the quantity and £32,534 

 in the value. The increase in the quantiy was the result of a more 

 general use of motor line boats, the high prices which ruled in 1918 

 accounting for the great increase in the value. 



Cod net fishing commenced in the Moray Firth early in January. 

 Few landings were made at Wick during that month owing to stormy 

 weather, which hindered fishing operations, and heavy falls of snow, 

 which delayed the transportation of fish to the southern markets. By 

 the first week of February the fishing was in full swing, and proved a 

 most successful one for the fishermen engaged. Only 8 motor boats and 

 2 sail boats manned by Wick crews participated in the cod net fishing, 

 and their earnings were in each case very satisfactory. Those of the 

 motor boats varied from £1356 to £5230, the average gross earnings of 

 the sail boats being £702. The total quantity of net-caught cod landed 

 at Wick (of which 55 per cent, was landed from stranger boats) amounted 

 to 13,059 cwts., valued at £44,445, as against 9815 cwts. valued at 

 £15,515 in the year 1917. 



In the summer an area in the Moray Firth was opened for drift net 

 fishing, and for the first time since 1914 large boats were permitted to 

 carry on herring fishing from Wick. A fleet composed of 1 steam drifter, 

 9 motor boats, and 2 sail boats, manned by local crews, commenced 

 operations in this area early in July. These crews also held permits for 

 areas on the south side of the Firth, and occasionally landed their catches 

 at Fraserburgh. The fishing did not prove a productive one, and the 

 catches of the crews engaged were throughout the season light and dis- 

 appointing. The total quantity landed at Wick amounted to only 

 4228 crans, which included occasional shots landed by stranger boats 

 and the landings of a few small local motor boats which for a time during 

 August and September fished with little success in the inshore waters 

 between Clythness and Dunbeath. Although as regards the catch the 

 fishing left much to be desired, the gross earnings of the crews employed, 

 owing to the high prices they received, were by no means unsatisfactory. 

 They varied from £884 to £3402, the average being £1515. 



With the exception of 384 barrels which were cured gutted and dis- 

 posed of within the district, and 292 crans which were used in a fresh 

 state, all the herrings landed in Wick district during the year were kip- 



