THE UNIVERSITY OF HULL The development of Shetland’s pelagic fishing industry: 1945-2000 being a Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Hull by Robert William Gear MA (Hons.) April 2012 Robert W Gear: 365751 Acknowledgements It would not be an exaggeration to call this a collaborative work. While any thesis requires the input, advice and knowledge of others this examination of the recent past of the pelagic fishing industry is especially indebted to those who lived through it and passed on their knowledge and experience. My thanks must therefore first of all go to the many people who were interviewed between 2008 and 2011 and especially to those whom I went back to again and again for follow up questions. It is hoped that these recordings, now lodged in the Shetland archives, will be of use to future researchers. A list of the informants is given on the next page. That this was a collaborative project is underlined by the different agencies involved; my thanks go to Shetland Catch and Lerwick Port Authority for their generous financial support and to all at the NAFC Marine Centre and Shetland Amenity Trust for their collaboration in the project. The thesis was submitted through the University of Hull and my thanks go to all at the Maritime Historical Studies Centre therein. Representing these agencies were the four supervisors: Dr David Starkey and Dr Robb Robinson (University of Hull), Mr Brian Smith (SAT) and Dr Ian Napier (NAFC). My thanks go to them for seeing this project through smoothly from its inception to completion. Special thanks also go to Dr. Martin Robinson of the NAFC Marine Centre for his help in completing the project. My thanks also goes to: John Goodlad, Jim Smith, Douglas Sinclair, Martin and Alison Kay Ramsay, Harry Jamieson, Martin Jamieson, and Martin Smith for much useful information. Charlie Simpson, Sean Williamson, Caleb Marwick, Fiona 2 Robert W Gear: 365751 Jane Brown, Davy Leask, James Thain, and Laureen Johnson for access to documents and transcripts. The staff of the Shetland Archives: Angus Johnson, Mark Smith, Joanne Wishart, and Blair Bruce for all their help over the past three years. The staff of the Shetland museum: Dr Ian Tait, Jenny Murray and Laurie Goodlad. The librarians of NAFC Marine Centre: Ruth Priest and Susan Davie. Also, to the staff of the Shetland Library who relaxed their rules on many occasions. Lastly I extend my thanks to my friends Erik and Kirsty for accommodation whilst researching in Edinburgh, to Andy Bradley and Emma White for proof reading and finally to Mam and Dad who were always encouraging in their own ways. 3 Robert W Gear: 365751 List of Informants Recorded: Tammie Anderson Isobel Christie Margaret Christie Alistair Goodlad Jim Henry Peter Johnson Bert Laurenson Rita McNab Laurence Pearson Willie Polson Mackie Polson Alistair Rendall Davy Smith Jim Smith Leslie Tait Willie Williamson Interviewed, not recorded: John Goodlad John David Henry Bobby Hunter Duncan Robertson John Ward 4 Robert W Gear: 365751 Table of Contents Page number Abstract 9 Chapter 1: Introduction 11 Part 1: The Development of the Shetland Pelagic Fishery, 1945-2000 Chapter 2: Catching sector 45 Chapter 3: Processing, markets and distribution of industry 107 Part 2: Causal Factors Chapter 4: Maritime cultural landscape - geographical, historical and sociological drivers 146 Chapter 5: Technological stimuli (supply) and market forces (demand) 184 Chapter 6: Political influences 218 Part 3: Conclusion Chapter 7: Context, summary and conclusion 263 Appendices 282 Glossary 305 Bibliography 306 5 Robert W Gear: 365751 List of tables and figures Page Number Table 1.- Yield per days absence in cwt. of drift net and purse seine 55 Table 2.- Details of the first six Shetland pursers 68 Table 3.- Replacement pelagic vessels in Shetland, 1984-1988 73 Table 4.- Upgrades in the Shetland pelagic fleet, 1985-1987 73 Table 5.- Shetland pelagic fleet in 2000 76 Table 6.- Shetland pelagic vessel finance, 1985 98 Table 7.- Average earnings per week in Scotland by occupation, 1955 100 Table 8.- Total summer earnings of Shetland drift net vessels by earning band, 1961- 1970 101 Table 9.- Earnings of early Scottish pursers and Shetland drift net boat, 1966 104 Table 10.- Earnings of Shetland purser and drifter, 1970 105 Table 11.- Fishermen’s qualifications, Burra and Whalsay, c. 1968 172 Figure 1.- Net tonnage of Shetland pelagic fleet, 1960-2000 78 Figure 2.- Number of active Shetland pelagic vessel by type, 1960-2000 79 Figure 3.- Herring landings into Shetland by home port of vessel, 1961-1967 81 Figure 4.- Herring landed by Shetland vessels by area of landing, 1961-1967 82 Figure 5.- Total landings of Shetland vessels outwith Shetland, 1977-1982 (stacked) 84 6 Robert W Gear: 365751 Figure 6.- Total pelagic landings by Shetland vessels outwith Shetland by weight and value, 1983-1989 85 Figure 7.- Catch per unit of Shetland herring vessels, 1961-1967 87 Figure 8.- Pelagic catch per days absent by UK vessels landing in Scotland, 1972- 1994 88 Figure 9.- Annual earnings of Sunshine II by gear type 102 Figure 10.- Numbers of active drift net vessels by base port, 1961-1976 106 Figure 11.- Gutting at J and M Shearer’s station, 1950s 108 Figure 12.- Processing units in Shetland by predominant method used, 1945-1955 114 Figure 13.- Pelagic landings into Shetland by all UK vessels by species, 1945-2000 (stacked) 117 Figure 14.- Herring landed into Shetland by home port of vessel, 1983-2000 (stacked) 122 Figure 15.- Mackerel landings into Shetland by home port of vessel, 1983-2000 (stacked) 122 Figure 16.- Other pelagic landings into Shetland by home port of vessel, 1983-2000 (stacked) 123 Figure 17.- Total pelagic landings in Shetland by both UK and non-UK vessels, 1983- 2000 123 Figure 18.- Herring shipping routes from Lerwick, 1936, 1949 127 Figure 19.- Disposal of herring landed in Shetland by UK vessels by outlet, 1961-1971 130 7 Robert W Gear: 365751 Figure 20.- Amount of herring cured as a percentage of total herring landed in Shetland by UK vessels, 1959-1972 131 Figure 21.- Disposal of herring landed in Shetland by UK vessels by outlet, 1961-1971 133 Figure 22.- Annual per capita consumption of fish and fish products in USSR, 1960- 1986 136 Figure 23.- Price per ton (unit value) of pelagic fish landed in Shetland by UK vessels, 1945-1973 140 Figure 24.- Price per ton (unit value) of pelagic fish landed in Shetland by UK vessels, 1975-2000 141 Figure 25.- Shetland drift net fleet by base port, 1946 and 1961 142 Figure 26.- Whalsay fishermen by ownership/employment status, c. 1968 173 Figure 27.- Trends in the Shetland herring industry, 1935-1965 195 Figure 28.- Movement of purse seine technology across North Atlantic, 1957-1966 199 Figure 29.- Number of Shetland based pursers by year, 1968-1984 205 Figure 30.- Rogers’ S-shaped model of diffusion 205 Figure 31.- Herring catches and SSB in the North Sea, 1960-1980 226 Figure 32.- Advert for public meeting called by the ZCC, 1946 241 8 Robert W Gear: 365751 Abstract The development of Shetland’s pelagic fishing industry: 1945-2000 R W Gear This thesis is a case study in the transformation of a fishing industry on the North Atlantic fringe between 1945 and 2000. Fishing industries worldwide underwent fundamental and wide-ranging changes during this post-war period. For the fishing industries of the North Atlantic, the 1970s were a time of particularly profound crisis and change. Three interlinked revolutions were at their height: the second industrialisation of fisheries, the territorialisation of the seas and the imposition of multifarious fisheries management measures. These combined to mean that access to marine resources were seriously curtailed. Many fishing industries on the North Atlantic rim suffered and some never recovered. In contrast the Shetland pelagic fishing industry emerged from the crisis period having experienced a particularly dramatic and positive transformation. Part 1 (chapters 2 and 3) detail these changes in the catching and processing sectors. Part 2 analyses the forces which drove this development. It is demonstrated that these changes in the pelagic industry in Shetland were driven by three primary factors. In chapter 4, environmental and sociological drivers are examined together under a holistic framework known as the ‘maritime cultural landscape.’ It is shown that Shetland’s environmental context - as an isolated relatively barren island in the North Atlantic surrounded by fecund seas - has made the exploitation of marine resources both practical and necessary. Further, it describes how the historic socio-culture of the 9 Robert W Gear: 365751 archipelago has been shaped by fishing, and in the post-war period how this was especially manifest in some of the outlying islands. Chapter 5 analyses the impact that market forces (demand) and technological drivers (supply) had on the development of the industry. It shows that consistent demand from Continental Europe has been the industry’s backbone but that increasing globalisation opened up new markets to the local processors. The chapter also argues that new catching methods increased productivity and profit and impelled development in other spheres such as vessel design and processing techniques. Finally chapter 6 discusses the political factors which have underpinned the industry’s development and argues that various forms of subvention and management measures impacted the industry’s development in a particularly positive way. Part 3 puts these developments in Shetland’s pelagic sector in the context of other North Atlantic maritime communities. The peculiarities of the Shetland case are especially highlighted. In summation, the work posits that the Shetland pelagic industry developed dramatically during the 1945-2000 period due to the positive confluence of three primary drivers, and the particular interaction of these drivers can explain the peculiarities of the Shetland example.