New book chronicles Scotland’s fishing boats

A NEW book on the history and evolution of Scottish fishing boats, from pursers to herring trawlers, has been published.

Scotland’s Fishing Boats Old And New is the fourth book on this subject by James A Pottinger, a retired marine engineer born in Shetland, who photographed and researched around 350 vessels he spotted while touring Scotland’s water.

The publisher, The History Press, explains: ‘The coasts of Scotland are a goldmine for fishing boats new and old, and this latest selection covers a huge variety of them – from early trawlers to seine net boats, to modern twin rig side and stern trawlers.

‘As it does so, it demonstrates the changes that evolved in the design of the boats themselves, as progress marches on: the numbers of handsome wooden boats have declined, while the smaller boats have flourished, now rigging themselves for trawling, lining and shellfish catching.’

Pottinger catalogues each boat’s birth and name changes, alongside their final fates, such as Jasper III, built as Pisces at John Lewis and Sons in 1971, but in 1999 ‘started leaking 60 miles east of Orkney on September 10, crew picked up by Crystal River FR178’.

Other stories are barely hinted at by the raw data, such as the steel boat Celestial Star PD118, which in 2005 ‘sank 70 miles south-east of Sumburgh Head after a collision with Norwegian Strillmoy on November 4, crew rescued from life raft by Ocean Harvester PD178’.

Ignominiously, the herring trawler Peter Scott H519, built by the Societe Anonyme Des Anciens Chantiers a Dubigeon in Nantes, burned out in Chile in 1989 and was converted into a floating pontoon.

The publisher concludes: ‘With more than 200 photographs, many previously unpublished, Scotland’s Fishing Boats is a photographic journey through time at a variety of locations around Scotland and the Isles.’