of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 
20) 
captor, but seem to follow his every motion. When cuttles are cut up 
and used as bait, fishermen say that cod select the heads much more 
readily than any other part of the body, and they can only account for 
this by the brilliancy of their eyes. 
Foreign Fishermen. 
Dutchmen. — Of the foreign fishermen — one might even say of all the 
strangers who annually visit Shetland — the Dutchmen are the most 
familiar figures. Various accounts are extant regarding the extent of the 
Dutch fishing industry in Shetland waters, centuries ago, but it might not 
be safe to accept as genuine all the statements thus made. In 1633, as the 
result of an inquiry on the subject, it was stated that 1500 Dutch vessels 
were engaged in the herring fishing about Shetland. In the beginning of 
the 18th century, some French men-of-war burnt and destroyed over 400 
of the Dutch fishing vessels in Bressay Sound, after which the fleet was 
for a long time much reduced. Of recent years the number of these 
vessels annually fitted out by Holland has been between 400 and 500. 
Perhaps no class of fishermen have been so conservative as the Dutch. 
Until very recently, they continued to work in the same style of boats, 
methods of fishing, and mode of despatching fish to market as their fore- 
fathers did in the days when the English admiral Blake (in 1652) cap- 
tured the Dutch herring fleet in the North Sea, destroying their escort 
and confiscating a tenth part of the herrings they had caught and cured. 
Of the boats presently in use, the old-fashioned ' bom schuits 5 are flat, 
square-built, slow-sailing vessels of from 35 to 45 tons, manned by a 
crew of 9. These are now fast being replaced by large powerful smacks 
of from 60 to 80 tons register, carrying 14 or 15 men and boys. A good 
many vessels of this description have lately been purchased from British 
owners; and the Dutch are building finely modelled crafts of the same 
pattern — steel being in some cases used in their construction. 
There has also been a change in the mode of dispatching fish to market. 
A few sailing vessels called 'jagers' used to accompany the 'busses ' to 
the fishing grounds, and collect the first cured fish, with which they ran 
to Holland. 
In 1885, some of the fishing companies combined to send steam carriers 
to Shetland, and several of these have since come annually for the first 
few weeks of the fishing. They anchor in Bressay Sound, and the fisher- 
men bring in their cargoes for transhipment. In 1891, 153 fishing 
crafts thus transhipped cured herrings in Lerwick Harbour, and 47 
Dutch vessels, other than the above, put in during the fishing season. A 
good many barrels of early cured Dutch herrings are now sent to Leith in 
the mail steamers for transhipment to Rotterdam, &c. As in former 
years, the fishing vessels generally go home with their catches as the 
season advances. 
Frenchmen. — Very few French fishermen visit Shetland. In 1891 two 
were reported at Lerwick Custom House — one of them being on the way 
to Iceland. 
Swedes. — About the middle of the last decade, Swedish fishermen first 
made their appearance in Shetland waters in the prosecution of the cod 
and ling fishing, and they have since been annual visitors. 
Their vessels are a little like the old Dutch ' busses,' but are of a smarter 
build. The usual size is from 18 to 24 tons register, with a crew of 
12 or 13 men, but smaller vessels occasionally come. They carry 
good-sized skiffs, in which they do the most of their fishing in moderate 
weather. 
O 
