MR G. H. HARRIS ON THE HERRING FISHERY. 
403 
The enormous catch landed on the Yarmouth and Lowestoft 
wharves would have congested business, but for the shortness of 
the Scotch East Coast catch, which was the salvation of the markets. 
Prices, although fluctuating, ruled in favour of the catcher. In the 
height of the season fish caught by Scotch boats fell to £5 10s. and 
£4 per last, but during the bad weather at the end of November 
prices ran up to £28 las. per last. Salt Herring averaged £8 10s. ; 
Scotch, fresh, £G 10s. ; Yarmouth, fresh, £10 per last. Besides 
the deficiency spoken of above, another circumstance affecting 
prices favourably was the absence of Norwegian Herring from the 
market. Two notable changes, or developments may be recorded, 
the one, a change in tho class of buyers ; the other, a change in 
the demand. 
1897 saw great numbers of foreign buyers in tho markets, 
Germans and Dutchmen, and it also saw a striking rise in the 
demand for Pickled Herring — Herring which are gutted, placed in 
brine, packed in barrels and exported. These are eaten simply as 
Pickled Herring, in their raw state, or the brine having been washed 
out of them, they may be turned, on arrival at their destination, 
into “reds.” 80,000 barrels of Pickled were asked for by Germany, 
and sent out by Yarmouth curers alone, and Belgium and Holland 
were also active buyers in both the Yarmouth and the Lowestoft 
markets. The extension of the pickling business was much 
apparent to the eye on the Yarmouth South Denes, where a large 
area was occupied by men and women employed in packing the 
millions of fish into the thousands of barrels. Fortunately the 
Autumn was free from wind or rain : bad weather would have 
seriously hindered the work, as there was no convenience in the 
shape of shelter to meet so large a demand of a kind so unexpected. 
An analysis of the catch, landed on the Yarmouth Wharf, shows a 
gross total of 23,013 lasts landed by Yarmouth, Lowestoft, and 
Scotch boats, which at 13,200 fish per last, gives three hundred and 
three million, seven hundred and seventy-one thousand, six hundred 
Herrings. At the Lowestoft \\ harf, 13,523 lasts were landed, or 
one hundred and seventy-eight million, five hundred and three 
thousand, six hundred Herring — being nearly five hundred million 
Herring in all. The land of fish on the Yarmouth Wharf exceeded 
that of last year by 3762 lasts, or by 21 per cent; that on the 
Lowestoft Wharf by 5332 lasts, or by 62 per cent. 
The number of Yarmouth, Scotch, and Lowestoft boats fishing 
from both ports was 856, or 326 from Yarmouth, giving an increase 
