of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



103 



spectively, due to the failure of the small herring and sprat fishing at 

 Inverness during the closing months of the year, and to the continued 

 decline in line fishing. 



The principal feature in connection with the means of capture was 

 the addition to the district fleet of 8 new steam drifters, built to the 

 order of the Admiralty, and acquired by local crews of ex-service fisher- 

 men. A number of steam drifters and second class motor boats were 

 sold to other districts, while 5 vessels were totally wrecked, so that com- 

 pared with the previous year there is a reduction of 3 steam, 15 motor 

 and 9 sail vessels. 



With the increased number of steam vessels available, several of the 

 large motor boats were laid up for a considerable period of the year, and 

 of the few large sailing boats now belonging to the district, only 2 were 

 employed during the summer season. 



In the beginning of the year 78 vessels were employed at the winter 

 fishing, chiefly on the West Coast, with fairly satisfactory results, gross 

 earnings of steam drifters ranging from £700 to £2000, and of motor 

 boats from £400 to £800. The best results were obtained by the 

 steam drifters operating off the north coast of Ireland. 



The summer herring fishing, in which 132 crews took part, proved a 

 partial failure on the East Coast, but was moderately successful on the 

 West Coast during the latter part of the season. Earnings had the wide 

 range of from £500 to £1500 by steam drifters, and from £400 to £900 

 by motor boats. 



Landings in the district were confined to week-end arrivals until the 

 latter part of August, when a shoal of small herrings was located in the 

 Firth, from 3 to 8 miles off Covesea. These herrings consisted chiefly of 

 matties, with a considerable proportion under 9 inches in length. The 

 appearance in the Firth of such small herrings when the season was so 

 far advanced was unusual, if not unprecedented. For a short period 

 good takes were landed, curing operations being carried on at Lossie- 

 mouth and Burghead, while several hundred crans were sent to Aberdeen 

 for tinning purposes. During the season 4649 barrels were accepted 

 under the Government Guarantee Scheme, against 1830 barrels during 

 the previous season. 



The East Anglian autumn herring fishing, which was prosecuted 

 under exceptionally favourable weather conditions, proved to be the 

 most remunerative herring fishing of the year, as good earnings were 

 secured in a comparatively short period. As the number of barrels pro- 

 vided for under the Government Scheme was cured by the end of 

 October, the majority of the Scottish crews left for home. Good 

 earnings were, however, secured by the reduced fleet, which continued 

 operations during November. Earnings by the district crews ranged 

 from £800 to £2800. 



Several motor boat crews decided to prosecute operations on the 

 West Coast during the period of the English fishing, but the results 

 proved most unremunerative, and in several cases expenses exceeded 

 gross earnings by from £100 to £200. 



The small herring and sprat fishing at Inverness was continued 

 during the first three months of the year with fair results by 60 Avoch, 

 Ardersier and Nairn crews, but during the last four months of the year, 

 which is usually the most productive season, the fishing proved a 

 complete failure, and after November operations were practically sus- 

 pended. The landings and value show a decrease of 37,827 cwts. and 

 £34,000 respectively as compared with the previous year. A consider- 

 able proportion of the herrings landed was despatched to Aberdeen for 

 tinning purposes, and only a small quantity of sprats was cured. Two 



