of the Fishery Board jor Scotland. 



43 



crans. In the week ended 3rd October 80 crans were landed, the place 

 of fishing being unspecified. On the following week 194 crans were 

 taken, and the Officer (now a new one, Mr. John Bain) reported that up- 

 wards of 100 crans were landed at Greenock, from which place 20 boats 

 were fishing, and he added — " On Friday and Saturday last (9th and 

 10th October) the fishing in the Clyde was remarkably good. It is 

 prosecuted opposite Greenock, and on Friday afternoon good takes were 

 got farther up the Clyde, opposite Port-Glasgow." It is possible that 

 the fishing in this locality had started a little before, and that part of the 

 80 crans recorded for the preceding week were caught there ; but it can 

 scarcely have begun before 26th September, when the previous Officer 

 notes that the Ayrshire boats had been doing nothing as yet, and had 

 gone to Loch Fyne. 



As the season advanced the fishing in the estuary of the Clyde in- 

 creased, and boats from other districts and from the East Coast were 

 attracted to Greenock. The herrings were caught by seines between 

 Greenock and Helensburgh, opposite Port-Glasgow, and sometimes as far 

 up as between Greenock and Dumbarton, a very unusual occurrence. 

 The number of boats increased to a maximum of 340 in November and 

 December, and they fished day and night ; the weekly catches increased 

 to 6000 crans (or about 6,000,000 herrings) in November, and the Officer 

 noted that, notwithstanding the great fleet of boats all using the seine-net 

 — often improvised from drift-nets — busily engaged day and night 

 amongst them, and steamers continually plying up and down, the shoal 

 still remained in the narrow estuary, and seemed rather to increase than 

 diminish. On 12th December he adds — "Notwithstanding that a con- 

 siderable number of boats (up to 340) have been during the past nine 

 weeks constantly engaged trawling for herrings in the Clyde in com- 

 paratively shallow water, the herrings appear to be as abundant as when 

 the fishing commenced, evidently showing that trawling does not frighten 

 away the herrings, as is sometimes alleged by those opposed to this mode 

 of fishing." 



Shortly after this, however, the fishing fell away. On 18th and 19th 

 December very few herrings were taken, and the total catch for the suc- 

 ceeding week fell to 120 crans. It was believed that the fish had gone 

 to Loch Long and Loch Goil, where, as stated above, a great fishing 

 occurred. Towards the end of January a fishing revived opposite 

 Greenock and was continued to the 27th, the last herrings being taken 

 opposite Gourock, and it was supposed that the shoal was making its way 

 down to the sea. The weekly totals for the district, and which refer to 

 the fishing in the estuary, are as follows : — 



Oct. 10 .. 194 Nov. 7 .. 2,496 Dec. 5 .. 2,600 



„ 17 . . 383 „ 14 . . 5,800 „ 12 . . 3,500 



„ 24 1022 „ 21 .. 6,000 ., 19 . . 3,000 



„ 31 1500 „ 28 .. 5,500 „ 26 . . 120 



31 .. 20 



The monthly totals for the district are these :- 



July. August. September. October. November. December. January. 

 576 401 428 3,179 19,796 9,240 470 



In the following year, 1869, in the belief that there were still herrings 

 in the Clyde opposite Greenock, a few trials were made at the beginning 

 of June, but none were caught. In this month and July the herrings 



