MR. T. J. WIGG ON THE HERRING FISHERY. 
357 
the early part of December many good catches were made, and good 
prices obtained, although the earnings of the Scottish fishing fleet 
at Yarmouth have been exceedingly varied. The boat which earned 
most was the Banff craft “ Kacer,” which has made the sum of £500. 
The “Queen” from Fraserburgh earned £410, while two other 
boats from the same port made £252 and £180 respectively. 
These however are exceptions, and the average would probably work 
out at about £120 per boat. 
It is satisfactory to note that the fishing has been very 
successful. The quantity of Herrings landed has beaten the huge 
total of last year, and, but for the bad weather experienced in 
November, the catch would have been much more in excess. The 
quality, too, has been very good indeed. More buyers than ever 
have been here this season, more boats have fished out of the port, 
and the influx of thousands of extra hands into the town must 
have benefited the residents and tradespeople generally. The 
improvements effected last year have been much appreciated by 
the visitors, and leading traders arc agreed that Yarmouth, as 
a central depot for the great Herring trade, is second to no other 
port along the coast. 
The Scotch fishermen appear to regard Yarmouth with greater 
i favour year by year. This year no less than 446 Scotch boats 
fished from the harbour, comprising 141 from Banff, Aberdeen 8, 
Leith 38, Berwick 33, Inverness 50, Kirkcaldy 74, Wick 18, 
Fraserburgh 42, Peterhead 16, Arbroath 2, Montrose 22, Stornaway 1, 
Newhaven 1. In addition to these, there was one Irish boat from 
Tralee, while North Shields sent 13, Sunderland 5, Grimsby 2, 
Hull 6, and Southampton 1, making a total of 474 boats, in 
addition to the 155 Yarmouth vessels. Among these boats there 
were 54 steam drifters belonging to Yarmouth, while 67 were 
chartered from other ports. 
The export and import business has been most successful this 
season. A large number of steamers brought in stock and 
empties (barrels), and took away large cargoes of Herrings to various 
ports in Sweden, Norway, Russia, and Holland. 
About 2000 Scotchwomen and girls arrived in Yarmouth for the 
Herring season towards the end of October. With the beginning 
of May they start on their pilgrimage in the extreme North of 
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