54 TRANSACTIONS OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 
away the gills and pulling the entrails out at the same time. It 
requires no little skill to perform this operation successfully, so as 
not to injure the insides. They are then well soused in salt and 
carefully packed in barrels, back downwards, tier upon tier, and 
salted, allowed to settle, and refilled till quite full and tightly 
packed. Then they are headed and well coopered up. Women 
are engaged for gutting and packing. At some of the stations 
(at Stornoway, for instance) curing herrings for home markets 
is done, and the kippering of herrings is carried on to a consider- 
able extent. 
Not only is the Herring Fishery prosecuted for the export trade, 
but our home markets are supplied with fresh herrings from 
Scotland. But the question of railway rates seriously affects its 
development; and it often happens that the cost of transit 
swallows up the proceeds of the sale, and the sender gets nothing 
for his outlay, which in turn affects the fishermen. 
The total number of boats engaged in the various sea fisheries 
of Scotland is no less than 15,344. Those engaged in the pursuit 
number : 
Fishermen and boys . ... 48,919 
Fish curers . . . .. 1,073 
Coopers . . . .. 2,697 
Other persons, estimated . ... 44,206 
Total . . . 96,895 
The capital invested is as follows : Boats, beam and trawl vessels, 
£916,017; nets, £756,579; lines, £122,361 ; total, £1,794,957. 
To this I may add that the gross total value of the sea and 
salmon fisheries of Scotland in 1886 was £2,550,778 8s. 3d. 
The east coast is the home of our English Herring Fishery, 
Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft being the two principal ports, 
whence yearly no less than 700 very superior fishing boats engage 
in this prolific sea fishing, with at least 9000 men and boys on 
board. In rig and build these boats are very different to the 
typical Scotch boat, and are fitted out, both as regards fishing 
gear and general equipment, to contend with rougher weather. 
The beginning of August is generally the time when the 
English boats commence the summer fishing in the North Sea — 
Shields, Hartlepool, Whitby, Scarborough, and Great Grimsby 
