256 Appendices to Twenty -fifth Annual Report 



Helmsdale District. 



General 

 Remarks. 



Means of 

 Capture. 



Ramie for 

 Drift Nets. 



The results of the fisheries of this district for the year 1906 show a 

 slight improvement when compared with those obtained in the year j 905, 

 which, however, were probably the poorest on record. For some years 

 the number of the district fishermen going out to the various herring 

 fishings as hired hands aboard steam and large sailing drifters has been 

 increasing. In the year 1906 upwards of 170 men were thus employed, 

 their earnings, in the majority of cases, being very satisfactory. 



The fact that three large and well-equipped "zulu" boats were in 1906 

 added to the district fleet shows that the fishermen have now begun to 

 move with the times. These boats were purchased second-hand by crews 

 belonging to Embo, Golspie, and Dunbeath respectively, and cost from 

 £300 to £400 each. Owing to unseaworthiness, 13 herring boats of the 

 smaller size were taken off the list, and other 20 boats of the same class 

 were not launched during the year. 



With a view to testing the suitability of ramie for the manufacture of 

 herring drift nets, a Helmsdale boatowner had four nets specially made for 

 him out of that material. These nets were used by the crew of one of 

 his steam drifters at the early and late summer fishings. On returning 

 home the fishermen reported that the nets were strong and their catching 

 qualities excellent. They were also of opinion that the}' would be 

 very durable. They stated, however, that the twine used in their manu- 

 facture had been spun much too fine, and in consequence the herrings got 

 so securely meshed that it had been found extremely difficult to shake 

 them out of the net. The boatowner was fairly well satisfied with the 

 result of the experiment, and has placed an order with a net manufacturer 

 for a full drift of ramie nets. These are to be made of heavier twine, and 

 supplied in time to admit of their being used at the ensuing West Coast 

 fishing. 



The summer herring fishing was prosecuted by a dozen boats from 

 Helmsdale and Dunbeath. In the latter part of June and the first half 

 of July these crews met with a little encouragement. Some good shots 

 of herrings were secured on the inshore grounds, and the fishermen were 

 in hopes that the Moray Firth fishing was going to revive. These hopes, 

 however, were not realised. About the middle of July the fishing 

 suddenly collapsed. Fishing operations were continued for a few weeks 

 after that date, but no success was met with. In the month of Septem- 

 ber a small cargo of herrings in a seastick state was imported from North 

 Shields by one of the district curers. These were filled up and branded 

 at Helmsdale, which circumstance accounts for the number of barrels 

 branded and exported exceeding the number of barrels returned for the 

 district as cured gutted. 

 Plaice Fishing. During the months of February and March the plaice fishing furnished 

 the fishermen of Embo with remunerative employment. 



In the closing months of the year haddocks were more plentiful on the 

 fishing grounds off Embo, Golspie, Brora, and Dunbeath than they 

 have been for many years. When weather permitted of fishing, the crews 

 employed from these villages secured takes which ranged from 5 cwts. to 

 10 cwts. The fish, however, were very small, and on that account useless 

 for sending to the southern markets. Most of them were therefore 

 disposed of locally by the women. There has been practically no 

 trawling on these grounds since February last, when, at the Dornoch 

 Sheriff Court, the Fishery Acts and bye-laws of the Board were success- 

 fully applied to foreign trawlers fishing in the Moray Firth. In the 

 opinion of all the district fishermen the presence of these young haddocks 

 in such large quantities is due to that reason. 



Herring 

 Fishing. 



Haddock 

 Fishing. 



