264 



Appendices to Twenty-fifth Annual Report 



Best Shots 



Cured 

 Herring's. 



Exports of 

 Stock. 



Branding. 



English Her- 

 ring Fishing. 



Cod Fishing. 



Barrel-making 



Boatbuilding. 



Casualties. 



The highest catch landed at Lerwick during the season was 180 crans, 

 value £252, but a shot of 211 crans, valued at over £300, was landed at 

 Skerries. 



Prices of cured herrings were firm and tended upwards as the season 

 advanced until 38s. per barrel was current for Crown La Full. These 

 high prices, however, apparently curtailed sales, and at the close of the 

 fishing nearly 80,000 barrels were lying unshipped, of which over 26,000 

 barrels were still on hand at the end of the year, an unprecedented state 

 of affairs in this district. With the failure of the west-side fishing, and the 

 high prices paid for fresh herrings at the auction sales on the east side, 

 the season cannot be regarded as a very satisfactory one from a curer's 

 point of view. 



One result of the shortcoming of the fishing at most of the stations 

 was the unusual spectacle of cargo after cargo of curing stock being 

 removed to other stations at the close of the Shetland season. 



The total number of barrels branded fell short of the preceding year's 

 total, not so much on account of the deficiency of the catch, which 

 occurred mostly before the bianding season commenced, but chiefly on 

 account of the large proportion of w T hat are known as matje herrings 

 that were found among most of the shots all through the season, and 

 which made the work of selecting the fulls for the brand very difficult. 



Five Shetland boats w r ent to the English fishing in autumn. Their 

 earnings ranged from £145 to £335, and averaged £241. 



The great-line fishing was a comparative failure, owing chiefly to 

 stormy weather and scarcity of bait. Only three local smacks fitted out 

 for the Faroe and Iceland fishing, two of them being manned by Faroese 

 crews. A number of Faroe vessels landed their catches in Shetland, and, 

 with this addition, the quantity of cod, &c, cured in the district was 

 greater than in 1905. 



The haddock fishing showed a slight falling-off owing to stormy 

 weather in the early part of the year. Fish were not scarce, but fisher- 

 men could not make so many trips to sea as formerly. 



All the coopers were fully employed, both before and after the fishing 

 season. Boatbuilders had also a fairly busy year. 



Twelve fishermen lost their lives during the progress of the herring 

 fishing, but none of them belonged to the district. There was very 

 little loss of netting among the local fleet, but a great many haddock 

 lines were lost during the spring months. A few boats were wrecked or 

 damaged, mostly through bad weather. 



R. Dututie, 



Lerwick, 7 th January 1907. Fishery Officer. 



Stomoway District. 



General From the returns of all fish landed it will be observed that there is a 



Remarks. shortage, as compared with the figures for 1905, of 60,074 cwts. The 

 decrease in value, however, only amounts to £4050. This is accounted 

 for by the price of herrings having been 4s. per cran higher than in 1905. 

 The falling-off in the catch was entirely attributable to the light fishing 

 during the early summer season, which turned out the poorest recorded 

 since 1876. The winter catch was only 187 crans under the total of the 

 preceding winter's fishing. Line fishing was fairly successful, considering 

 the short period during the year the local craft were employed. Sixty 

 local boats prosecuted the herring fishing at Shetland and the East Coast 

 with good success ; their average earnings were £258. Two thousand 

 hired men brought home an average sum of £20 ; 2345 women workers 



