Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/272

262 FISHERIES [SCOTCH. Garvie iishing. Line fisheries. Curing of cod. Garrie or Sprat Fishing. This is carried on to some extent at the upper end of the Firth of Forth, and in the Beauly Firth. In the former locality the games are caught by means of trawls (seans), and the principal fishing is on the western side of Inchgarvie. In the Beauly Firth drift-nets are used, and only fish of fair size are taken. Complaints have long been made in both places of the capture of young herrings with the garvies, and the herring fishers have done their best to get the garvie fishery put a stop to ; but fortunately they have not succeeded, for this fishery gives profitable employment to a good many fisher men, and there is not a particle of proof that the herring fishing farther out has suffered from the occasional capture of young herrings with the garvies. Sprats are riot in much demand in the Scotch markets, and almost all that are taken in the localities mentioned are sent by rail to London. We are sorry to say that the old fallacy of the sprat being nothing but a young herring still prevails among some of the fishermen and curers. Line Fisheries. The capture of cod, haddock, ling, and sa ithe or coalfish is general around the coast of Scotland ; and the tusk or torsk, a northern species of the cod family, and in shape like a short-bodied ling, is taken in some numbers at the Shetlands, and a few at the outer Hebrides. Long lines are in use for haddock, ling, and tusk, and also for cod on many parts of the coast ; but at the Shetlands hand lines are employed for cod and saithe, and also at Faroe and Iceland. At Newhaven, Eyemouth, and other places in the neighbourhood in the Firth of Forth, two sizes of long line are regularly worked in the proper season. The smaller or haddock lines have from 800 to 1000 hooks each, or even more, on snoods 14 inches long and 2i- feet apart, and mussels and lug worms are used as bait. Some little interest is attached to the state of this fishery, as it is an important one in Scotland, and a few years ago it was said to have fallen off very much. But it appears there are still plenty of haddocks on the coast, and now that larger and decked boats are used, and the fishermen are consequently more independent of weather, very large takes are not uncommon. In one week in January 1876 the Eyemouth boats were at sea six times, and landed 20,000 stones of haddocks, which sold at 2s. per stone, producing in that short period no less than 2000. The season lasts here from October to April, and the average gain for the season by each boat usually ranges from 400 to GOO. There is a considerable trade in smoked haddocks, particu larly from Eyemouth, and the curing consists in soaking the fish in pickle for half an hour, and then hanging them for about four hours in some hardwood smoke. The village of Findon, between Stonehaven and Aberdeen, has long been famous for first preparing the fish known as " Finnan haddies." Their peculiar flavour, which has made them so popular, arises from their being hung in peat smoke. They are cured in the cottages, and some little variation in the time in pickle and in emoke is made according to the time they are intended to keep. This manufacture is now carried on at many places besides Findon. The cod or " great lines " are of the same description as those used for haddock fishing, but have longer snoods, and the hooks farther apart. It is unnecessary to speak of the manner in which these long-lines are worked, as we have fully described it in our notice of the North Sea cod fishery. A vast quantity of line fish is sent to the fresh market, but the great importance of this Scotch fishery is due to the large extent to which curing operations are carried on, and more especially in the distant districts such as the Shet lands and the outer Hebrides. Curing is performed in two ways dry and in pickle. The latter method consists in packing the fish, after they have been split open, gutted, and part of the backbone and the head removed, with layers of salt in barrels ; but when to be cured dried, these fish, perhaps caught as far oil as the Faroe Islands or Iceland, and landed at the Shetlands, are unpacked, washed, and spread out either on stages or on the beach, and exposed for some days to the air and sun, due attention being given to them to ensure their being evenly dried. When thoroughly cured, they are kept in a cool dry place, until wanted for shipment. The iish caught near the coast are salted as soon as landed, and afterwards treated as the others. The produce of the Shetland fishery is large in itself; but the return of fish cured in those islands is greatly increased by the supplies of fish in pickle landed there for curing by the Grimsby and Shetland smacks, which go every year to Faroe, Iceland, and other more or less dis tant fishing grounds. A great deal of the cod and some of the ling go to the Spanish markets, and a little to Australia ; but the ling and tusk are chiefly sent to Dublin, Glasgow, and Leitli, and the saithe to Belfast, Leith, and Dundee. ABSTRACT showing the Total Quantity of Cod, Ling, Hake, Saithe, and Tusk, cured and exported, year by year, in so far as brought under cognizance of Fishery Officers, from the 10th of October 1820, when the system for encouragement and improvement of the Cod and Ling Fishery commenced, to the 31st of December 1877. The periods for which each Return is made end on the 5th of April down to 1844 ; from that year to 1852 on the 5th of January, and afterwards on the 31st of December. Two Returns, therefore, appear for 1852 in the tables. The collection of Returns for England ceased from the 5th of January 1850, when also the Punching and Branding of Cod and Ling came to an end ; and there were no Returns for the Isle of Man after January 1869. Years. Cured dried. Cured in pickle. Exported dried. Years. Cured j dried. Cured in pickle. Exported dried. Cwts. Barrels. Cwts. Cwts. Barrels. Cwts. 1822 19,578 1851 90,658 5.032 22,304 1823 19,398 1852 92,083 7,019 17,141 1824 23,098 1852 102,976 6,886 18,994 1825 14,087 1853 105,591 5,122 22,650 182G 69,136 5^621 7,281 1854 109,684 6,166 19,557 1827 95,161 9,025 14,051 1855 113,561 6,316 29.154 1828 8-->,515 C,142 13,208 1856 110,504 6,642 29.629 1829 81,321 6,819 20,587 1857 104.668 4 >9 3 34.310 1830 101,914 8,836 16,369 1858 95,596 4 ,584 32.152 1831 37,674 2,950 11,920 1859 118,383 5,362 35,923 1832 50,293 3,779 20,168 1860 115,688 4,339 32.221 1833 58,461 6.467 14.754 1861 82,344 4,145 26,961 1834 52,710 5,522 16,298 1862 100,657 7,735 32.969 1835 44.152 3.767 10,632 1863 329,725 7,337 53,736 1836 38,040 6,276 10,992 1864 107,758 7,9(13 46.461 1837 fi(i,892 7,273 10,195 1865 112,807 7.678 44,928 1838 84,996 10,303 22,166 1866 115.819 9,957 47,753 1839 85,279 10,051 26.701 1867 119,638 10.819 46,225 1840 93,560 6,053 29,656 1868 113,831 9,659 52,403 1841 91,494 9,480 30.550 1869 135,585 10.319 51,864 1842 76,849 7,038 25.293 1870 145.288 9,945 56.400 1843 77,207 C.431 23,737 1871 119,030 9.283 54,171 1844 92,813 5,123 35,476 1872 145,976 11,940 53,631 1845 83,919 1.726 28,815 1873 160,716 12.381 70,101 1846 92,323 5,037 29,352 1874 143.466 6,754 60,91 3 1847 90,783 6,341 34,435 1875 187,788 8,503 81,880 1848 86,624 6,247 25,662 1876 111,457 6,109 59,865 1849 85,463 6,810 22,608 1877 187,200 8.619 73,968 1850 98,903 6,588 24,154 N.B. The books of the Fishery Board do not show the total quantity of cod, ling, Ac., cured till the year commencing 5th April 1825. The bounty from thu earliest date in this abstract to the 5th of April 1830, was four shillings per cwt. for fish cured dried, and two shillings and sixpence per barrel for fish cured in pickle, taken by the crews of vessels or boats not on the tonnage bounty; while the bounty for vessels licensed for the cod and ling fishery, on the tonnage bounty, was fifty shillings per ton, for tonnage and cargo, to the 5th of July 1826, diminishing five shillings annually to the 5th of April 1830, when the bounties altogether ceased. In 1877 1 the number of fishing boats in Scotland was 14,623, and of fishermen and boys 45,890, and tlio estimated value of the boats, nets, and lines employed in the herring and cod and ling fisheries was 1,178,412, being an increase over the numbers for 1876 of 76 boats and 627 fishermen and boys, and also an increase of 50,418 in the estimated value of boats, nets, and lines. IRISH FISHERIES. After a continuous depression of 30 years, during which the number of boats and fishermen was reduced to less than a third, the Irish sea fisheries showed some indications of an improvement in 1876, the last year for which the inspectors have published their annual report. 1 Report of Fishery Board, Scotland, for 1877. 2 Since the above was in type the Inspectors Report for 1877 has been pviblished. They state that there has been an apparent decrease of no less than 583 fishing boats and 3300 fishermen and boys since 1876 ; but, as in previous years, they do not appear to have much confidence in the accuracy of the returns. TLe herring fisheries were IRISH FISIIKH- IKS.