of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 
17 
boats belonging to the district is 172, of which 113 were employed in 
1890. The highest gross catch of any single boat was 250 crans, and the 
lowest 27, — the highest individual take being 104, and the total landed 
8600 crans. The quality of the fish was good throughout. 
The general herring fishing began on the 20th July, and terminated on 
6th September, 113 boats being employed, of which 104 were engaged to 
fish from the following stations : — Stronsay 50, St Mary's (Holm) 25, 
Burray 20, Cara 8, and St Margaret's Hope, 1. The prices agreed upon 
were lis. to 128. per cran for complements of 100 to 120 crans. The 
highest individual gross catch was 200 crans, and the lowest 38, while 
the general average for the fleet was 112 crans. The most successful 
boats were those which fished from St Mary's (Holm), the inshore grounds 
being the most productive. The quality of the herrings was good as 
compared with previous seasons. The total quantity landed, including 
the catch at Stromness, was 22,251 crans. Ten lives were lost in 
connection with the fisheries, while the gross total loss on boats, nets, 
etc., lost and damaged, was £1470. 
Shetland District. 
Comprising the Shetland Isles, Fair Isle, and Foula Island. 
District Fishery Office — Lerwick. 
The early herring fishing of 1890 began about the middle of June, 459 
boats being employed by 45 curers, of which 274 boats fished from the 
Unst section, and 185 from the west side stations. During the first week 
of the fishing a fair average catch was landed, but towards the end of the 
month dog-fish appeared at the north stations, and soon spread around the 
whole district, putting a stop to all fishing operations. At the Unst 
stations the fishing lasted only a fortnight, while at the west side stations 
few fish were landed after the first week of July. The early fishing closed 
with a catch of 19,595 crans, which was sold at an average price of 
14s. 6d. per cran. 
The late fishing began at Lerwick and other stations on the east side of 
the district towards the end of July. After the entire failure of this 
fishing in 1889, both curers and fishermen were very slow in {)reparing 
for it. There were only 235 boats engaged, being a decrease of 165 
from 1889, and the smallest number employed since 1881. They were 
all engaged to curers at from 15s. to 1 6s. per cran for 200 crans, and 8s. 
to 10s. per cran for any fish over that amount. The fishing proved a 
most successful one, the average catch per boat being 223 crans, the 
highest individual catch over 400 crans for the season, and the best take 
126 crans, while many crews had a gross catch of over 300 crans, few 
being below 100. The highest day's catch was an average of 46 crans 
per boat on the 29th August. There were very few fish landed in 
September, as the supplies of barrels and salt were exhausted. Fisher- 
men often had difficulty in disposing of fish landed over the complement, 
and on 29th August many hundred crans had to be sold for manure or 
thrown into the sea. The quality of the fish was good up to the 12th 
August, but afterwards very inferior. The estimated catch for the late 
fishing was 54,049 crans. The total number of barrels cured was 
104,795, being an increase of 57,789 barrels on 1889. Of the 235 
boats employed, 217 belonged to the district. A large number of good 
serviceable boats Avere left on the beach, their crews seeking employment 
elsewhere, being discouraged, after the failure of the fishing in 1889. 
