DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION FOR IRELAND. REPORT ON THE SEA AND INLAND FISHERIES OF IRELAND FOR 1910. presented to parliament bY Command of His Majesty. AGRICULTURE AND TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION (IRELAND) ACT, 1899. (62 and 63 vic., cap. 50.) LONDON: PUBLISHED BY HIS MAJESTY’S STATIONERY OFFICE. To be purchased, cither directly or through any Bookseller, from E. PONSONBY, Ltd., 116. Grafton Street, Dublin; or WYMAN & SONS, Ltd., Fetter Lane, E.C., & 32, Abingdon St., S.W.; cr Oliver & Boyd, Tweeddale Court, Edinburgh. PRINTED BY CAHILL & Co., Ltd., 40 Lower Ormond Quay, Dublin. 1911. [Cd. 5933.] Price 91d. To His Excellency John Campbell, Earl of Aberdeen, Lord Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland. May it Please your Excellency, I am directed by the Vice-President to submit to your Excellency the Report on the Sea and Inland Fisheries of Ireland for the year 1910. I have the honour to remain, Your Excellency’s faithful Servant, T. P. GILL, Secretary. Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland, Upper Merrion Street, Dublin, 20th October, 1911. CONTENTS Page REPORT. General Observations, . • v- Crown Brand for Herrings ...» v. Loans,................................................................ • Motor Boats, ...... Y*- Net-hauling Machinery, . Mackerel Curing, ... • viil Net Mending, ....... viji* Marketing of Oysters, ...... 1X- Sale of Fish in Inland Towns, .... x. Whaling, ....... x. Kelp, ....... xi. Legal Decisions, ...... xi. By-Laws,................................................................. xi. Fish Passes,............................................................. xii. Scientific Investigations, ..... xii. Sea Fisheries. Vessels, Men, and Boys employed, . • xiv. Review of Statistics of Fish landed, . • xiv. Dublin Market Returns,..................................... xv. Spring Mackerel Fishery,............................................... xvi. Autumn do. ..... xyii. Summer Herring Fishery, ..... xix. Autumn and Winter Herring Fishery, . xx. Loans,..........................................................................xxii. Casualties,.........................................................................xxiv. Piers and Harbours,...................................................... xxyi. Marine Superintendence,........................................... xxviii. Inland Fisheries. Salmon Fisheries, ...... xxviii. Eel do., xxxviii. Pollen do.,’ xl. APPENDIX,................................................................ 1 Dublin Castle. 21st October, 1911. Sir, I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 20th instant, forwarding, for submission to His Excellency the Lord Lieutenant, the Report on the Sea and Inland Fisheries of Ireland for the year 1910. I am, Sir, Your obedient Servant, J. B. DOUGHERTY. The Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland, Dublin. SEA AND INLAND FISHERIES OF IRELAND, 1910. REPORT TO THE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION FOR IRELAND. Sir, We have the honour to submit the Report for the year 1910 on the Sea and Inland Fisheries of Ireland. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. The quantity of sea-fish (excluding salmon and shell-fish) landed in Ireland during the year 1910 was greater than that of any of the past eleven years, and amounted to over 52,000 tons, of the estimated value to the fishermen of £316,500. The Spring mackerel fishery, although more productive both as regards quantity and value than that of the year 1909, showed no material signs of improvement; but the Autumn season was well above the average of that for the past twenty years, and was the best since 1905. The American market, which absorbs prac­ tically all this product, was, however, in a most unsatisfactory condition. The Spring and Summer herring catch was fairly good, the fish realising nearly £57,000. About one-half of it was cured. The Autumn herring season showed an improvement in all respects on that of the preceding similar season. Crown Brand for Herrings. For some years the herring fishing on the east coast of Ireland has been steadily improving, and the export of cured herrings to the Continent increasing. As the herrings caught on the east coast in the summer are of a class similar to those that get the Crown Brand in Scotland, a demand arose for the applica­ tion of a similar brand to barrels of Irish cured herrings going to the same markets. vi. The brand of the Fishery Board for Scotland, which has been in force for a century has established its credit on the Continent to such an extent that barrels pass from hand to hand without examination, and the market for branded herrings has increased as railway extension has proceeded eastwards into Asia. Since last season, when Irish curers experienced difficulties in making sales, as the demand was almost all for branded herring, the matter has again been entertained by us. As a result arrange­ ments have been made, with the friendly assistance of the Fishery Board for Scotland, for the establishment of an Irish Crown Brand. In the season of 1911 the project could only be looked on as in the experimental stage. The future credit of the Irish Brand will depend on curers, not only in putting up fish of a quality and cure sufficient to meet the various grades of the Brand, but over rather than under the standards that are named and passed by skilled officials. Loans. During the year ended 31st March last, we made loans to the extent of <£10,322 13s. 2d. to enable fishermen to purchase boats and gear. Motor Boats. The development of motor power in fishing craft, referred to in our last Report, has continued. The demand for large fishing vessels has been so great that the building yards have been unable to keep pace with it, and more first-class boats have been built in the last two years for East Coast ports than were built m the previous fifteen years. All these vessels, except one in which steam was preferred, have been designed for propulsion by paraffin motor engines. The steam drifter referred to, the “ Dan O’Con­ nell,” was built in Arklow and engined on the Clyde. Our aim has been to advise fishermen in making selection amongst what we considered the best and simplest forms of marine engine; and as the experimental stage in regard to such engines cannot yet be looked upon as having passed, a number of types have been installed. Time alone can tell which of them will prove the most suitable, reliable and lasting. In selecting engines for decked boats, all those needing petrol either for starting or driving have been excluded from our recom­ mendations ; but this is not so in regard to smaller open boats, in many of which the “Belfast Barker ” petrol motors have given satisfaction. In some cases these have been applied to twin screws. The following types of engines have been supplied for the larger craft: — HOT BULB IGNITION. _ __ _ _______ No. of Engines. “ Dan,” from 16 to 24 B.H.P. 5 “ Alpha” (Danish, Old Type, from 24 to 30 B.H.P. 2 ,, New from 20 to 30 B.H.P. 2 “ Bolinders ” (direct reversing engine), 24 B.H.P. 2 “ Skandia,” 30 B.H.P. .... 3 vii. MAGNETIC IGNITION. 41 Gardner/’ 22} to 40 B.H.P. .5 “ Crossley,” 30 B.H.P.......................................................2 * *. In eight cases the engines have been installed in existing sailing craft. In the remaining thirteen the boats have been specially designed and built for propulsion by motor power. The largest of these craft is 51 feet on water line with 16 feet 6 inches beam. From the first we disapproved of installing motor engines in the cabins where men slept, cooked and had their meals, although such an arrangement has been customary in other parts of the United Kingdom. The first boat designed, the “ Ovoca,” has her engine-room forward and cabin aft. In the case of this instal­ lation fears were entertained that the length of the shaft might give trouble, and to guard against this an intermediate shaft with universal joints was introduced. Experience has shown that this was unnecessary in boats so strongly built. A rigid shaft is now universally used. In some other of the boats the engine-room is also forward, in others it is aft with the cabin forward, but in all cases the net and fish holds are between the crew space and engine­ room. Net-hauling Machinery. We devoted much attention to the question of winches, capstans, etc. While many fishermen outside Ireland seemed to have de­ cided that steam alone was, on account of its elasticity, suitable for the net-hauling machinery, an effort was made to plan a drive from the motor engine that would give satisfaction. In hauling nets the strain on winch or capstan was often found to be so heavy that the engine, when directly geared to the winch, stopped work- in^. With steam the stoppage of an engine from such a cause was unimportant, because, when the strain was removed by the vessel plunging into the trough of the sea, the engine would start a train. If a motor engine be thus stopped it will not re-start of its own accord. To meet this difficulty we adopted a belt as the means of conveying power to the winch or capstan. This plan, assisted by a device known as a jockey pulley, provided for a certain amount of slip when the strain on the winch became excessive. In two cases only have the fishermen decided to exchange this gear for the steam gear to which they had been previously accustomed. The saving of space in the boat renders the driving of the hauling-gear by the main engine of advantage; but the steam boiler and engine have also undoubted advantages, which to some extent compensate for the loss of space occupied by them. It is at times desirable to work the main engine and the winch simul­ taneously, but independently; and steam is also useful for heating liquid when nets are being barked. In some classes of fishing two ropes have to be hauled at the same time, and while a winch pro­ vides for this, a single capstan is not so handy.