258 



Appendices to Twenty-fiftlt Annual Report 



during the last two or three months of the year. This was attributed to 

 the decision in the High Court of Justiciary in the case of Mortensen 

 versus Peters, whereby foreign as well as British trawlers were excluded 

 from the Firth. Fishermen are therefore hopeful that the depleted 

 grounds will gradually again be replenished. 

 Barrels. Barrel-making continues to give employment to all the coopers 



belonging to the district, the cheap storage and railway facilities enabling 

 curers to keep their cooperages filled with the necessary number of 

 hands. 



Loss of Pro- In the early part of the winter herring fishing a large boat was totally 

 perty and Fish- wrecked in taking the harbour, and, owing to the dark night, the crew 



narrowly escaped losing ther lives. A large quantity of netting was lost 



on the same night. 



Walter Duff, 



Wick, \th January 1907. Fishery Officer. 



Wick District. 



General 

 Remarks. 



Means of 

 Capture. 



The total quantity and value of fish landed in the year 1906 were 

 slightly less than in the preceding year. This is accounted for by the 

 comparative failure of the latter half of the great summer herring fishing 

 season. The prosperity of the fishing industry, however, can hardly be 

 gauged nowadays by the quantity and value of fish landed within the 

 boundaries of the district. It has to be borne in mind that the majority of 

 the most enterprising fishermen depend greatly upon the English herring 

 fishing, in which they take an active part, and for the year under review 

 their earnings have been greatly augmented by the success which attended 

 this fishing. On the whole, therefore, the year can be said to have been a 

 fairly prosperous one. 



In consequence of the inclusion this year of " other than Scottish " 

 steam fishing vessels in the means of capture, an increase in the number, 

 tonnage, and value of fishing boats will be observed. There is, however, 

 a decrease in the number of steam drifters belonging to the district, 

 three having been transferred to other districts. One of them will soon 

 be replaced by another which is in course of construction. A number of 

 fishermen have, during the year, gone in more for large second-hand 

 sailing boats which were for sale on the Banffshire coast. Some of these 

 were bought at a cost of over .£500. In this way the tonnage and value of 

 the combined fleet of steam and sail boats, exclusive of " other than 

 Scottish " vessels, are well maintained. 

 Ramie Nets. An experiment was made during the autumn herring fishing with 

 a few nets made of the ramie vegetable fibre. These nets are supposed to 

 be much more durable than those manufactured of cotton, and have been 

 proved to catch almost double the quantity of herrings. Although 1 5s. per 

 net dearer than those made of cotton, a few more have been ordered, and it 

 will be interesting to watch how they fare. It may be stated that ramie 

 nets have long been used by the Chinese, and so durable are they that 

 they are handed down from father to son. 

 Great Summer In consequence of the failure of the West Coast herring fishing, the 



Herring 

 Fishing. 



great summer herring fishing opened early, and for the first few weeks it 

 was anticipated that in every respect the season was going to prove a 

 record one. Herrings were found in abundance in the waters off the 

 district inside and outside the Moray Firth, and in the month of June 

 the unprecedented total of 40,000 crans was landed. The month of July 

 also began with much promise, but the high hopes that were entertained 



