The morning call., 1890-12-07

| the number OF men, women and
0-A boats employed. aud product for
home consumption and export to the cont
nent secured, that / have been at pains to
study the subject for intelligent presenta
ton to American readers. The earliest date
assigned such fishing on the coasts Of
Britain is about 1850, although herring
are mentioned in the chronicles OF
Evesham in 700. the Normans having
probably then acquired The art of sailing
fish; and it is more than probable that the
use of salt was known in the time of Will
lam the Conqueror, as Duhamel quotes
one of Williams charters, which states
that III the eleventh century vessels from
Dieppe called "Grand Drogueurs" went to
The North TO fish tor behring's in July aid
brought them home in barrels sailed. The
Dutch obtained privilege of Edward L to
take herrings at Yarmouth, England, and
in the reign of the third Edward an act
was passed relative to supplying the
British fleet with herriugs. During the
middle ages, and later still. British herring
fishing which was always chiefly along the
Scottish coast, was even encouraged through
the means of religious fast days.
The Scottish herring fisheries owed their
rise and development TO the jealousy of the
Dutch, who largely frequented the east coast
during the last ctntHry, and who still annu-
ally send Large fleet of fishing "busses" TO
the Shetland Islands. Their method of cur
lug with salt is said TO have been originated
in 1886 by William Beukles a native of Flan-
ders.
THIS HUMBLE FISHERMAN
Nay be said to have laid the foundation of
the Dutch herring fisheries, which have al
ways proved one of the greatest sources of
national wealth. The sayingis that Amster-
dam itself was built on herring bones;
while Beukles' memory was so honored by
the Dutch that In 1886 Charles V of the
Netherlands and his sister, the Queen of
Hungary. paid memorable visit to his
tomb. The Scotch adopted the Dutch
methods of curing herrings, and these two
people, with the fishermen of our own New
England coast, are principal competitors for
the continental cured herring trade OF
Europe.
The Board of British White Herring
Fisheries was established by Parliament in
1SO9 and is Still in existence under the
present title OF the Fishery Board for Scot
land. Many restrictive measures have been
enacted during the present century, such as
close seasons, barring the use of circle
tTaWi-DetS, and nets of certain size of mesh
but without result; and since 1868 the
Scottish herring fisheries have been practi
caily free from legislative control. even Sun
day fishing in religious Scotland being
largely prac:iced. The Scottish board has
in its service general inspector, one as
sisiant and thirty sub-inspectors or officials
All OF these are not only graduate fishermen
but have also been fish-curerS by occupa-
tion. For the purpose of easy control and
procuring statistics, the coast-line of Scot
land is divided into twenty-SiX districts, the
east coast having seventeen and the west
coast niue districts. Each district is pro-
Yded with at least one officer, and some
with Two.
A bounty system for the encouragement
of herring fishing prevailed with curious re-
suits from 1876 10 1880. Fishermen went tC
sea TO catch the bounty rather than the
Esh." 1t was paid on tonnage OF vessels in
stead Of upon herrings landed. In 1859 this
bounty was 80 shillingS per ton of tonnage
-Four barrels were taken. The tonnage
bOuniy paid was upward of e159. This be.
ing discontinued, from 1909 to 1915 the Gov.
eminent paid Shilings per barrel of cured
herrings, and, altogether, shillings
pence IL exported. Government bounties
after examination was. however, con-
timed; and, in 1859. branding-fee OF four
pence pr barrel was fixed, which still con-
ulues IN force. In a way the bounty system
Is su continued as a concession to the fish
ermen, but In totally different form. The
Government paid its bounty both 10 the YES
sei-Owner on tonnage and the fish-cuTer Oh
cured behring's. Under The bounty system
as retained by the trade the bounty is now
exclusively paid by the curer to the fisher.
man before he puts net in the sea. This
trade bounty" reached its height in 1884
when. on tie Aberdeenshire coast, il wa:
from SO to 500 per boat, the fisherman also
receiving 81 per Gran" of
This ''trade-bounty," now greatly reduced,
is paid TO the Crew, or rather, to the owner
of the beat, before fishing begins and forms
a mild SOFT Of lottery. Thus, if the bargain
IS 81 per Gran and EGO bounty. and the boat
Ii b ItO raus, the cost TO the curer is 81 shil-
lings per cran. If 300 Grams are landed the
price is reduced to 20 shillings per Gran.
Ag n, all hfrrings over complement OF
say 2U0 or go Grams VIII be delivered under
the 81 rate, and those delivered after 9
.l Iyht Qf fhp 60t fab on
are still cheaper to the curer.
In the early part of the century Scottish
behring's were chiefly exported to Ireland
and to the West Indies as food for slaves.
But since 1916 continental Europe, especi-
ally Germany and Russia, has been the
chief purchaser. During 1907, the first year
for which statistics are procurable, the
product was upward of 10000 barrels: for
the ten years ending in 1917 there were 453,-
993 barrels cured; for the % years closing
with 1887 there were LILO. 9jS barrels cured
while the tremendous increase in the indus
try is shown by the fact that in 1888 there
were cured on the east coast S72,643 barrels.
of which 734, go barrels were sent to the
Continent; while on the west coast the
yearly catch averages 100000, giving a
total product for 1888 of at least 1,100, 001
barrels, exclusive of the behring's used fresh
In fishing ports, those "kippered," and those
sent fresh to Scottish and English markets,
which amount annually to 10000 "crans"
and it should be borne in mind that the Gran
measure is equal to 3l1a imperial gallons. II
is still the standard of measure, although
seldom used as a utensiI for measurement.
An idea of the predominating Importance OF
the herring fisheries may be gained from the
fact that the total value OF the herring,
white. shell and salmon, fisheries of Scotland
in 1886 was e., $50, 17S, OF which behring's
represented 81, 460,9Sl.
The boats in use at the middle of the
present century were about "a feet OF keel.
unlocked, and carried "a hemp nets. &C
ards t.nn slc "A, auaI,a
after years use. The boats built within
the past five years are from As to 50 feet OF
seel. They are decked and carry an aver
age drift OF 80 cotton nets. each 60 yards
long and IL yards deep, with about 81
meshes to the yard after years use. There
are three classes: Firth boats, straight in
stem and stern, 50 feet Of keel and 81 " feet
extreme length above; the Skaffe boats,
with "a feet keel and 80 feet length above
and the Zulu boats, with straight bow and
soped stern, with IS feet of keel and So feet
length above. The general rig Is lug sail.
jib and Tiger: A large number are smack
rugged, the latter being in common use here
in Shetland for its convenience in lacking W
THE NARROW Woes OR BAYS.
A boat Of so foot keel, Firth build, with
sailing gear included. will cost about 9300
the fishing gear costing from f150 to flS0
requiring an outlay Of at least EATS, before
equipment for herring fishing is complete
1t was calculated in 1878 that there were
1000 boats engaged in the Scotch herring
fisheries. These carried nets nearly ,O0t
miles long, sufficient to cover a superficial
area of 20 square miles. The number o,
boats employed in 1885 in Scotland in the
herring and other SEA fisheries numbered
14,904, with tonnage of 124, 452 tons. Oi
these 4777 we're boats of the first class, OF
above thirty feet of keel, exclusive of 107
vessels employed in fishing with the beam
trawl. For the same year the number OF
fishermen and boys by which the boats were
,,<.d 81 n.
curers. The coopers numbered l4lO Others
employed in the work. such as hackers,
: cutters" carriers and laborers, numbered
1896: giving a total of persons employed in
the fishing industry Of 81, SS1 souls.
East coast summer herring fishing begins