of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



47 



of herrings landed in the district amounted to 398,689 crans (about 

 1,395,400 cwts.), giving an annual average for the period of 9061 crans. 

 In the first twenty-two years, 1863-1884, the gross quantity of herrings 

 landed was 228,592 crans, the annual average being 10,390 crans; while 

 in the last twenty- two years, 1885-1906, the quantity was 170,097 

 crans, with an annual average of 7732 crans — showing, therefore, a con- 

 siderable reduction in the second period. The annual average for each 

 of the ten-yearly periods are as follows : — 



(1857-1866 .. 2,129) 1887-1896 .. 8,566 



1867-1876 .. 4,535^ 1897-1906 .. 5,397£ 



1877-1886 . . 20,518=J 



The first of these periods, of course, includes only four years. The 

 annual mean quantity in five-yearly periods was: — 



1862-66 .. 2,129 1887-91 .. 14,201 



1867-71 .. 2,606 1892-96 .. 2,931 



1872-76 . . 6,465 1897-1901 . . 4,412 



1877-81 .. 24,088 1902-06 .. 6,383 



1882-86 . . 16,949 



The variations from one year to another have been very marked in this 

 district, the smallest quantity in any one of the years being in 1863, when 

 the total landed amounted to 825 crans; the largest was in 1880, when 

 the aggregate amounted to 37,600 crans. The great fluctuations in this 

 district have been owing chiefly to the variation in the yield of the 

 winter and spring fishing. The summer fishing, as a rule, is not of great 

 account, and it is not at present worth while attempting to follow the 

 movement of the fishiug in detail. Suffice it to say that it begins 

 usually in May, and in that and the following month is carried on 

 generally on the Ayrshire coast, sometimes into August; the fishing 

 then, as a rule, passes to the coast of Arran and about the south end of 

 that island, and into Kilbrennan Sound later and the Argyllshire 

 coast. 



The great fishing is the winter and spring fishing on the coast of 

 Ayrshire, which occasionally begins in November, more commonly in 

 December, and it may not be till January, or even later. Shoals of 

 herrings commence to congregate on the coast, sometimes in the southern 

 part, off Loch Ryan and Corsewall Point, and sometimes in the northern 

 part of the district, about Ayr Bay or neighbourhood. The fishing is 

 then carried on mostly by trawl nets, or seines, and sometimes large 

 catches are secured. In February, usually in the third week, the shoals 

 settle down on the spawning grounds near the coast, particularly opposite 

 Ballantrae, and great quantities of herrings may be taken in February 

 and March. The fishing closes in March as a general rule, though 

 occasionally a small quantity is got at the beginning of April near the 

 shore. « 



The chief bank on which the herrings spawn is of an irregular 

 elongated form, and lies off the coast between Bennan Head on the 

 north and a point about three miles south of the village of Ballantrae. 

 It begins about one mile from the shore and extends to over three miles 

 from it, the depth ranging from about six to thirteen fathoms, and the 

 bottom is formed chiefly of stones, gravel, and coarse sand. The spawn- 

 ing is not, however, always and not perhaps usually confined to this 

 area. An elevation of the bottom, with depths from six or seven to 

 fifteen or sixteen fathoms, extends along the coast from near Girvan to 



