286 Appendices to Twenty-fifth Annual Report 



Of the 52 boats, 24 were fully equipped with mackerel nets, the 

 remainder having partly herring nets and partly mackerel nets. Only 

 85 barrels were cured. The want of an ice-house at Kyle is a great 

 drawback. Ice costs £2 per ton, too dear to be stocked at the risk of 

 waste if fish are not being received, and often not on hand when good 

 fishing landed, by which the fish suffer. 



Stornoway. — Here fish were plentiful on the inshore grounds, but 

 they were secured only by boats engaged in herring fishing. In the 

 month of January alone 1614 cwts. were landed, valued at ,£1053. 

 These were despatched to the English markets fresh. No demand 

 existed in the summer and autumn months, and the quality was not so 

 good. 235 barrels were cured for export to New York. 





1906. 



1905. 



1904. 



Quantity, cwts. 



3,570 



684 



649 



Value ----- 



£1,435 



£174 



£213 





s. d. 



s. d. 



s. d. 



Average per cwt. - 



8 0 



5 0 



6 7 



Loch Broom. — No mackerel despatched from the district, either cured 

 or fresh. During October crews had as high as 14 crans oft' Gairloch 

 and Loch Ewe. The fish were of fairly good size, but for lack of a 

 curer all were thrown overboard. 



Other West Coast Districts. — In all the southern districts mackerel- 

 catching is not dissociated from herring fishing, and it is not likely to 

 be so. In Lochfyne, Rothesay, and Ballantrae mackerel were plentiful, 

 but they were of small size and poor quality. In Lochfyne, in July, 

 August, and September, more might have been caught, but many boxes 

 were put into the sea for want of buyers. As it was, buyers often took 

 mackerel because herrings were so scarce, otherwise the average price 

 (4s. 6d. per cwt. in 1906) might have been still lower. No demand 

 seems to exist in Glasgow for fresh mackerel, and the fish are too small 

 for the English markets. 



Edinburgh, 16th January 1907, 



