Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/268

258 FISHERIES [SCOTCH. for open boats, the change from undecked to decked fishing boats gradually gained favour, and is now very general. This alteration, however, involved an important change in the rig of the boats in the doing away with the main-lug, a sail which for many years had given a distinctive character to the Scotch fishing boats. In our notice of the Yarmouth luggers we mentioned that when the vessel was fishing, the foremast was lowered on to a crutch on deck, so that the vessel might ride easier and not roll about, as the weight of the standing mast would be likely to make her do. This is the practice with all drift-fishing boats ; but in decked boats there is a difficulty in doing this with a second mast, and if it were done there would be so much more hamper upon or near the deck and in the way of the fishermen as to cause much inconvenience. The mainmast has therefore been done away with, and the necessary after-sail is pro vided by means of a mizen, which, being outside the stern, has plenty of power when wanted, and is out of the way of the fishermen. The fore-lug is made larger than it used to be, so that there is still plenty of canvas, and the general rig of the boats is now just what has been for a very long time adopted by the English fishermen as the most convenient for drift-fishing. Steam-tugs have been advantageously used in towing the fishing boats towards and from their fishing ground ; but such a system could hardly be generally applied to the vast fleet of boats which collect in certain years at some of the stations. Fluctu- The fluctuations in the herring fishing are very remark- ations in able, but they are not more so on the coast of Scotland herring t uail ou ^ a t O f Norway and elsewhere. Indeed, Norway ery- and Sweden afford instances unparalleled in Britain of the disappearance of herrings from particular districts, and their return in the most unexpected manner after a long course of years (see p. 267). On the coast of Scotland, the changes which take place in the fishery consist in an in crease or decrease at particular districts rather than a total disappearance from any one of them. The most marked failure in recent years is in the Firth of Forth, where the summer fishing has now been given up, only a small winter fishing being carried on. At Wick, also, for a great number of years the most important station on the east coast, the herring fishing has been more or less diminishing, whilst at the same time Fraserburgh, only about 70 miles distant from it, has gradually assumed an unexampled importance. It is true that in 187G there was an immense falling off in the quantity of fish landed at the latter port, but it was a bad year at almost every station on the east and west coasts, and the almost general decrease arose not from any apparent scarcity of fish, but from the boats being frequently kept in harbour by a continuance of very bad weather during the fishing season, or being unable from the same cause to work their nets when they reached their regular grounds. There is some reason for believing the alleged scarcity of herrings near the land is not so great as has been supposed. Successful fishing many miles out at sea has attracted large numbers of boats from the home waters, and the catches inshore have been consequently much diminished; still the general opinion appears to be well founded that the fish have not entered the firths and lochs in the last few years to the same extent as they used to do. That the fisheries, taken as a whole, have been gradually increasing is shown by the carefully prepared statistics of the Board of The crews who had large-decked boats, and persevering] y followed out the fishing were successful ; while those crews about Berwick and Spittal who were not so well prepared did little good. Many of the Eyemouth and Coldiugham boats made from 200 to 300 for the season, several from 400 to 500, and a lew from 500 to 700 each. The Berwick and Spittal crews, on the other hand, who fished with open boats and inferior netting, made only from 60 to 120." Evidence to tho same effect is given from Anstruther, and similar records have appeared in former reports. Fisheries ; and it is desirable to point out that the great in crease in the quantity of netting now used is to some con siderable extent counterbalanced by the shorter time tho nets are in the water ; for the boats go long distances to sea, and they have to leave off fishing earlier in order to bring in their fish in good time to the curers. It may appear strange that after the lapse of centuries during which the herring fishery has been regularly carried on, so little knowledge should have been gained of the habits of this valuable fish ; but it must be confessed that at the present moment we can say nothing positively about what brings the herring towards the land, why at one time they will " strike" the nets, and at another they will apparently not go near them in short, what are the particular influences which regulate their movements. Of course, the old idea that these fish come into shoal water in order to deposit their spawn is the one still generally received, and we will not venture to say it is incorrect ; but if it be true that the spawning fish conic in for that purpose, that cannot be the inducement in the case of the " maties " or fish which show no development of the milt or roc. Yet both these herrings do precisely the same. Mackerel differ from herrings in spawning at the surface, and it has been abundantly proved that their ova float during the whole period of develop ment ; still we find that mackerel in full spawning condi tion, and half-grown fish also, arc mixed up in the same shoals at the time when they approach the land. Thus we find the habits of surface-spawners and ground-spawners are alike in this respect, yet the common explanation of the visits of the spawning herring will not apply in the case of the mackerel, or even in that of the "matie." "Yith respect to the causes which induce the herrings to keep near the surface, or to remain at some little depth, a step seems to have been taken in the right direction in the observations now being made of the possible relation of the temperature of the sea to the higher or lower movements of the fish, Good service was done by the late Marquis of Tweeddale ; when he provided a number of deep-sea ther mometers for the use of tho fishery officers and fishermen, whose observations are reported weekly to the Meteorologi cal Society of Scotland, and come under the careful scrutiny of the secretary, Mr Alexander Buchan. It is early yet to expect any definite results from this inquiry, as it has only been carried on for four or five years; but the observations hitherto made point to a high degree of temperature in the sea being unfavourable to fishing, and show that, when the sea is found to be colder in any one district than in that on either side of it, the herrings are more abundant and the fishery is more successful in the colder than in the warmer water. It is also stated that the influence of thunderstorms had been perceptible in each year ; and that if a thunder storm of some magnitude had extended over a large portion of the east of Scotland, good takes of fish might be made on that day, but on the following day few if any fish would be caught over that part of the coast, unless at the extreme verge of a deep part of the sea, as if the fish were retreating thither. Observations on the influence of wind.s and the temperature of the sea have also been made by the Dutch fishermen ; and Herr von Freedon of Hamburg believes, from an analysis of these observations, that a temperature of from 53 to 57 F. is most favourable for the herring fishery, and that the chances of success diminish with higher or lower temperatures. Should these conclu sions be confirmed, it is quite possible that the fishermen may be enabled, by a trial of the temperature of the sea at different depths, to determine how far their nets should be sunk to give them a fair hope of a successful fishing, instead of working, as they do now, very much on the chance system, often finding that they have been too high or too low for the principal part of the shoal.