Second Shetland Truck System Report Part 395

16,941. Do the men receive the bounty at the commencement, or before the commencement of the season?-The way in which it is done is this: the fish-curer and the fishermen make the contract in March, and then the men generally get the bounty a fortnight or a month after the time of agreeing, or at all events they generally get it before they commence to fish.

16,942. What is the purpose of giving the bounty?-I suppose there is no particular reason for it. I understand some curers like to give it in order to procure the best boats, and to be an inducement to the men to contract with them.

16,943. Is the price per cran invariably fixed before the beginning of the season?-If the boats are agreed, as they generally are on the Moray Firth-

16,944. But I am speaking of the Lewis fishery alone. You mentioned about a price per cran, which I suppose applies only to the herring fishing, while I was asking you about the cod and ling fishing?-I don't know [Page 436] much about the arrangements with the cod and ling fishermen; but I understand they get it certain amount per cwt. or per dozen of fish.

16,945. I thought you said you had made arrangements with the Lewis and West Highland fishermen?-Not for the cod and ling fishing. I have made arrangements with them for the herring fishing; but I understand the bargains are made on the same principle.

16,946. Have you made bargains for the herring fishing at the Lewis?-Yes. I have agreed boats at the Lewis for Mr. Methuen.

16,947. Were these boats belonging to the Lewis, and were the fishermen living there?-Yes; both the fishermen and the boats belonged to the Lewis.

16,948. In that case, when did the settlement take place?-I was there two seasons, and I settled with them generally at the end of the season-in the end of June.

16,949. Did the men get advances before the end of the season to any extent?-Yes; they generally got pretty large advances.

16,950. In what form were these advances given?-In some cases they got them in nets and ropes and bark, and sometimes in cash too.

16,951. Do you supply them with the nets and bark, and other things they require?-Yes; that is the general practice in Stornoway.

16,952. Do they also get supplies of food and meal before the end of the season?-Yes; sometimes.

16,953. Where do they get them?-It is generally from the curers that they get their supplies of nets and ropes, so on.

16,954. But Mr. Methuen has not a shop in Stornoway?-No; but he generally supplies the fishermen there with these things if they cannot get them otherwise. He does not prohibit them from getting them from the native merchants; but he usually keeps a supply for any one who may require them.

16,955. Does he supply any meal at all?-None that I am aware of.

16,956. But what I asked you was, whether the men required supplies of meal during the fishing season, if you know where they get them?-I suppose they get them from the native merchants.

16,957. Do you know whether the curers have to make such supplies or to guarantee such supplies in the Lewis?-Yes. I understand they give the men a line or a letter stating that they will be responsible for the price.

16,958. Have you had to do that in your own experience?-No; but I am aware that it is done at Wick, and I think at Stornoway too.

16,959. Do you know of any cases at Stornoway in which it had to be done?-No.

16,960. Are the fishermen in the Lewis very much indebted to the curers?-They are.

16,961. Is that chiefly for nets and boats?-Yes. In some cases the fish-curers give them boats, and perhaps nets too, and when they don't make it good fishing they get into debt in that way.

16,962. Have you had any experience at all of the cod and ling fishery?-No.

16,963. Have you not had any management of the fisheries in Fife or on the east coast of Scotland?-I have been at Fraserburgh and Rosehearty, but that was princ.i.p.ally in connection with the herring fishing.

16,964. Are you not acquainted with the cod and ling fishing on the cast coast of Fife?-No; but I understand that in Fife the fish are sold each day. The supply regulates the demand; and the men are not generally agreed at all.

16,965. Would there, in your opinion, be any difficulty in settling for the fish as they are delivered, in the western islands and in Shetland?-No. Perhaps it might take a little time to bring about the proper arrangements; but I think it would work better if such a system were adopted.

16,966. Would it work better in the Wick herring fishery too?-I see no reason why it should not.

16,967. Would it be more convenient for the curers?-They would not make such large profits, I would suppose.

16,968. Why would the system of paying for the fish as they are delivered lessen the curers' profit?-My experience, on the east coast at least, has been, that the free boats are much more independent than the others. The men seem to have a better cla.s.s of boats, and better material generally, when they can get their money daily or weekly or monthly, as they may call for it.

These men can get their money daily if they wish it.

16,969. I thought these free boats were settled with at the end of the season, just like the others: is not that so?-Not generally.

They don't have a regular place for delivering their fish. They may deliver them at one place today, and at another place next day, and when they fish in that way they generally collect their money daily; but at some places, such as North Sunderland, where the Fisherrow boats fish, they sometimes do not take the whole amount until the end of the season, except the small amount they get in supplies.

16,970. Do you say that at some places the free boats are paid just as they deliver their fish?-Yes.

16,971. Where is that?-At Burntisland, for instance. When boats come up from Anstruther or Buckhaven, they deliver their fish, and we pay them on delivery, the same day.

16,972. Are these fish for curing, or for the fresh market?-For both.

16,973. Does that lead to any difficulty?-None whatever. I have had about twenty-eight years' experience of that system of paying daily.

16,974. I suppose it saves you keeping accounts with the fishermen?-We keep an account of the fish we have received, but we have no running accounts with the men.

16,975. What kind of fish do you refer to as being delivered in that way at Burntisland?-Princ.i.p.ally herrings.

16,976. Do you take delivery of cod and haddocks in that way too?-No; it is very seldom that boats come up in that way with them. When they do, they sell them to the inhabitants and get cash for them.

16,977. Have you had any management of the fisheries at Anstruther?-Yes; I was two winters there, during the time of the winter fishing, buying herrings, and we paid in the same way as we do at Burntisland-just when the fishermen liked to call for their money, which was generally weekly. Some boats were paid daily, but others did not come asking for the money until the end of the week.

16,978. The quant.i.ty of fish delivered was marked down in the fish-book each time?-Yes.

16,979. So that you knew exactly how much the men had to get?- Yes. The price was extended in the book.

16,980. Had the price been fixed at the beginning of the season?- No. The price was fixed daily, according to the market, the supply regulating the demand. That is the system at Burntisland, and at Anstruther, Pittenweem, and St. Monance.

16,981. Are the fishermen at these places in a prosperous condition under that system?-I think so.

16,982. Has there been a material change in their circ.u.mstances within your recollection?-Yes; a very great change. The boats and material have been very much improved.

16,983. Were the men at one time considerably in debt?-I don't know if they were much in debt, but they did not have the same cla.s.s of boats, nor so good material, such as nets, and the like of that. Their boats are much better now than they used to be.

16,984. Do the boats there belong to the men themselves?-Yes.

16,985. Do you know whether many of the men in that district are now in debt to the curers or merchants?-A few of them may be but they are not so generally.

16,986. Was there formerly a system there of settling at longer intervals?-Yes. I think that generally they did not make a final settlement with the local curers until the end of the season; but there have been so many strangers going there within the last few years, that it seems to have been adopted as a rule to [Page 437]

pay daily, or when the fishermen like to call for the money, which is at least once a week.

16,987. I suppose the railway has made a difference in that respect?-Yes; it has made a great change in the value of the fish.

16,988. Is the cod and haddock fishery prosecuted to great extent at Anstruther and Pittenweem?-It is.