of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



255 



More attention than hitherto was directed to herring fishing away from English, Irish, 

 home, and in this connection the crews of first-class boats, and hired men Jw., Herring 

 on boats belonging to other districts, earned close on £24,000 at different 11snngs - 

 parts of the Scottish, English, and Irish coasts. The majority of these 

 men were absent from June to November. 



The highest earnings, ranging from £200 to £600 per crew, were 

 made on the Aberdeenshire and English coasts. 



A number of women from the different villages found profitable Female 

 employment at these places as gutters and packers during the same a 0111 ' 

 period. 



The only attempts at summer herring fishing, locally, were made by Local Herring 

 Portmahomack and Rockfield crews on the old spawning haunts of the Flshin £- 

 herring off Tarbet Ness. These efforts proved- ineffective, and the 

 fishermen betook themselves to Fraserburgh early in July, where they 

 had a successful season. 



Very little change was effected in the means of capture. Avoch is Means of 

 the only place which seems to be advancing in this respect, but even Capture, 

 there improvement is mainly in the size of the boats. Steam is used 

 exclusively for haulage purposes. 



On the return of the Avoch men from the herring fishing at Fraser- Sprat Fishing, 

 burgh and Peterhead over 20 crews fitted out their second-class 

 boats and commenced fishing for sprats in the Inverness and Beauly 

 Firths. At intervals, until the close of the year, good catches of sprats 

 and small herrings were obtained. These met with a ready sale at 

 Inverness, for curing purposes chiefly, and prices for sprats often exceeded 

 30s. per cran. Before the close of the season about 40 boats were at 

 work. The produce was landed at Inverness, and the results of this 

 fishery are recorded in the returns for Findhorn district. 



Haddocks were found more plentiful on the contiguous grounds during Small-line 

 the closing months of the year than at any period in recent years. On Fishing, 

 several occasions crews in the section of the district from Cromarty 

 northwards secured from 8 to 12 ewts. of good- sized haddocks at a shot. 

 The fish were mostly disposed of fresh in the district between Inverness 

 and the coast. A number of fishermen inclined to the belief that the 

 improvement in the fishing was due to the exclusion of foreign trawlers 

 from the Moray Firth, following on the decision of the High Court of 

 Justiciary in the case of Mortensen versus Peters in July. 



Fishing for cod, ling, &c, by means of great-lines is now almost a Great-line 

 defunct branch of the industry. The higher rate of remuneration derived Fishing, 

 from the early herring fishing on the West Coast and Shetland, and the 

 difficulty of procuring herrings for bait, are chiefly responsible for the 

 growing neglect. 



Large quantities of whelks were gathered, principally by the female Shell-fish 

 portion of the communities. The work is very laborious, but yields a whelks' 

 fair return when little else can be done. The whelks were dispatched 

 chiefly to London in bags. 



The small-line fishermen kept themselves supplied with mussels for Mussels, 

 bait from the beds in the different firths, but fewer mussels were taken 

 away by stranger fishermen than in the preceding year. 



An enlargement of Avoch harbour was effected by extending the Harbour 

 breakwater. This extension is proving a boon to the fishermen, and Improvement, 

 affords good shelter for the growing fleet of first-class sail boats. 



Alex. E. M'Kenzie, 



Fishery Officer, 



Cromarty, 6th January 1907. 



