ONE-HUNDRED YEARS AGO Saturday September 20, 1919
Scottish sea fisheries
To the annual report of the Fishery Board for Scotland for last year, the secretary, Paymaster Lieut. Commander D. T. Jones, R.N.R., contributes a historical progress of the sea fisheries of Scotland. He writes: The ‘harvest of the sea’ is a paradox: the operation of sowing is absent, but the reapers are many and the harvest is both rich and abundant.
The ‘bonnie fish and halesome farin’ immortalised by Lady Nairne have been for generations a most welcome addition to the table, and during the recent war they proved a very present help in time of need, while the fishermen as a class were a tower of strength in the defence of our shores.
The operation of fishing was until recent times a laborious process, but with the advent of steam much of this arduous labour has been eliminated, while the precarious nature of the results has been gradually nullified by the wide extension of the field of operations. While ‘all is fish that cometh to net,’ the real troubles of the fisherman begin when the fish are brought to port.
The extreme perishability of fish and the remoteness of many of the landing ports from the populous centres – and this applies especially in the case of Scotland – have intensified the difficulties of distribution: in short, the problem of distribution is the crux of the situation.
Generally speaking, the industry in the early days was encouraged by the State as a nursery for our Navy, every fisherman being regarded as a potential fighting man in the continual struggle for the supremacy of the seas. The Scottish fishing population, however, on more than one occasion received an infusion of Dutchmen and Frisians, and the resulting blend has produced a class of fishermen second to none for bravery perseverance, and the spirit of self-help.
A brief sketch of the genesis and rise of the Scottish fishing industry is necessary to a proper appreciation of the important position which it has reached as one of our chief national assets.