92 



Part III. — Twenty-fifth Annual Report 



In May the herrings were caught about Laggan, Kilfinan, and Loch 

 Gair. In June and J uly most of the fish were secured between Skipness 

 and Tarbert, especially between Laggan and Skipness, also at Ardlamont, 

 and in the upper loch at the end of July. Mackerel were said to be 

 plentiful in the loch in the latter part of July. In August herrings were 

 very scarce in the lower loch, but some were caught near Newton in the 

 upper loch. On the 18th, it was reported that the shoals which had been 

 on the east side of Arran were moving up towards Loch Fyne, but in the 

 next week it is noted that they had turned back. In September the 

 fishing was mostly in other districts, especially at Garroch Head and off 

 the east of Arran. In October, which was the best month of the year, 

 the herrings were secured between Skate Island and Ardlamont, about 

 Inchmarnock, and between Arran and Bute. In November and Decem- 

 ber the weather was mostly unsettled, and few herrings were caught. On 

 8th Deccember the Officer notes that the shoal which had been lying in 

 the upper reaches of the loch had left unobserved, the general opinion of 

 the fishermen being that the herrings had gone south to the spawning 

 banks. 



It has already been explained that these districts were combined from 

 the year 1854, when the records begin, until 1863, and I have accordingly 

 combined in the Tables (IX.-XXIIL, pp. 114, 179), the totals for the 

 two districts since 1863 in order to allow a comparison to be made 

 as to the fluctuations for the last 53 years. The two districts are 

 contiguous, and the boats of the one often fish within the limits of the 

 other. The statistics relate essentially to the area of water which extends 

 from the south end of Kilbrennan Sound up to the top of Loch Fyne, 

 and represent the yield in this long stretch of narrow waters. In the 53 

 years the total quantity of herrings taken in it amounted to about 

 2,304,950 crans, or 8,067,300 cwts., the annual average for the whole 

 period being 43,490 crans. If this period be divided into two parts of 26 

 years each, viz., 1854-1879, and 1881-1906, and a comparison made 

 between them, it will be seen that the second half was all but twice as 

 productive as the first. In the years 1854-1879 the quantity was 775,058 

 crans, the annual average beiug 29,810 crans, while in the years 1881 — 

 1906 the quantity was 1,469,604 crans, with an annual average catch of 

 56,523 crans. The annual average excess in the second period over the 

 average in the first was no less than 26,713 crans, which shows how the 

 herring fishery in this region of the Clyde has been developed. This 

 development has been much more in the southern part of the area, in the 

 district of Campbeltown, than in Loch Fyne. 



When the figures are arranged in ten-year periods, the annual averages 

 for each period are as follows: — 



Arranged in five-year periods, the averages, in both cases in crans, are 

 these : — 



Campbeltown and Inveraray Districts Combined. 



1857-66 

 1867-76 

 1877-86 



29,557 

 28,440 

 54,966 



1887-96 . . 57,101 

 1897-1906. . 51,392 



1857-61 

 1862-66 

 1867-71 

 1872-76 

 1877-81 



27,712 

 31,402 

 34,689 

 22,191 

 43,665 



1882-86 . . 66,267 



1887-91 . 65,053 



1892-96 . . 49,149 



1897-1901 . . 67,083 



1902-06 . . 35,701 



