Sheep farming
There is little peat on the Out Skerries, so the residents have been granted rights to cut it on Whalsay. The soil in the islands is thin and infertile, but is heaped into riggs, for better cultivation of potatoes, carrots and swedes. The main industry on the islands is fishing. Sheep farming still occurs, but is far less important than it once was. Tourism on the other hand has increased.