xvi 



Part I 



—Twenty -fifth Annual Report 



As will be seen from an examination of the above Table, there was 

 an addition during the year of 65 vessels to the Scottish fleet of 

 steam drifters and long liners, the ratio of increase — amounting to 

 31 percent. — contrasting with that of 1905, when there was an 

 addition of only 5 vessels, and corresponding with the ratio of 

 increase of the preceding year, which year shows an excess of 48 

 vessels on the number returned for 1903. Compared with the 

 figures of 1905, the actual increases in the tonnage and value of 

 the vessels and the value of their fishing gear, amounted to 1361 

 tons, £155,980 and £32,261 respectively, and, as in the case of the 

 number of vessels, exceeded the actual increases recorded for any 

 year embraced in the Table. 



In view of the increasing importance of steam drifting as a means 

 of capture in the prosecution of the herring fishing, it may be of 

 interest to peruse the following record of the operations of the 

 majority of the district fleets : — 



Buckie The operations of the Buckie District fleet were attended with a 



District. greater measure of success than had been obtained during any 

 year since the introduction of steam drifters into the district, the 

 total gross earnings of the vessels being estimated at about a 

 quarter of a million sterling. Seventy-eight per cent, of this 

 amount is applicable to the Great Summer and English herring fish- 

 ings, which yielded remarkable results, largely contributed to by 

 the high prices secured for the fish. The West Coast early fishing- 

 was fairly remunerative ; but only moderate returns were derived 

 from the prosecution of the Stoi noway winter fishing — a result, 

 principally, of the stormy weather which prevailed. The fishing 

 off the Irish coast again proved to be a failure, and, but for the 

 fact that sums exceeding £200 were on frequent occasions realised 

 for shots of 50 crans, the earnings would not have covered the 

 expenses incurred. 



Unmistakable evidence was afforded of the belief of the fishing 

 community of the district in the future of steam drifters by the 

 addition during the year of 33 vessels to the fleet, and by the con- 

 clusion of contracts for the building of new, or of negotiations 

 for the purchase of second-hand, vessels — numbering, in the 

 aggregate, 50 — for delivery in 1907. Of the three materials 

 employed in building the hulls of drifters, a preference is 

 shown in the district for wood, it being considered that vessels 

 so constructed possess better sea-going qualities and afford more 

 comfortable quarters for the crews than vessels built of iron or 

 steel. With a gradual increase in the size of the steam drifters 

 acquired, there have, of course, been corresponding upward 

 movements in the cost of their construction and the expense 

 of their upkeep, the former amounting to £500 (from £2200 to 

 £2700) in the case of wooden drifters, and the latter finding illus- 

 trations in increases of about £50 in accounts for coals, and of 

 relative amounts in oil bills, insurance premiums, &c. The desire 

 to possess a steam drifter of larger dimensions and greater speed 

 than those of any in the neighbourhood has engendered among the 

 fishermen a spirit of emulation similar to what formerly existed in 

 regard to the Zulu sailing boat, and the gratification of this spirit 



