North Harbour, Peterhead
Herring boats at Fraserburgh
The amount of capital invested in boats and fishing gear for all Scotland is estimated by the Fishery Board at over £5,000,000. Of this total, Aberdeenshire claims very nearly two millions. It is now the case that the value of fish discharged at the fish market of Aberdeen is as great as the yearly value of the agricultural land of the whole county—truly a marvellous revolution.
Fishing Fleet going out, Aberdeen
The herring fishery was prosecuted off the Scottish coast by the Dutch, long before the Scotch could be induced to take part in it. Many futile attempts were made to exploit the industry but little came of them till the nineteenth century. A beginning was made at Peterhead in 1820 and at Fraserburgh a little earlier. Aberdeen followed in 1836 but no great development took place till 1870. The first trawler came on the scene in 1882; to-day there are over 200 local vessels of this type besides many from other ports.
The salmon fishery has long been famous and at one time was relatively a source of much greater revenue than at present. It still yields a considerable annual surplus to the Corporation funds, but has been eclipsed by the growth of other fisheries. The rateable value of the salmon fishings on the Dee is nearly £19,000; those of the other salmon rivers—the Don, Ythan and Ugie—being much less. The fish are caught by fixed engines in the sea—stake-nets and bag-nets—set within a statutory radius of the river mouth, and by sweep- or drag-nets in the tidal reaches of the rivers. A good many fish are caught by rod and line throughout the whole course of the rivers but angling is not the commercial side of salmon-fishing.
15. Shipping and Trade.
Aberdeenshire has practically but three ports—Fraserburgh, Peterhead and Aberdeen. The herring fishing with its concomitant activities absorbs the energies of the two former so far as shipping is concerned, but Aberdeen having to serve a larger and wider area than these two northern burghs has developed a range of docks of considerable extent and importance. During the last forty years the Harbour Commissioners have spent £3,000,000 in improving the harbour, increasing the wharfage, adding break-waters, diverting the course of the Dee, deepening the entrance channel, forming a graving dock and so forth. Still, in spite of these outlays, Aberdeen, which has been a port for centuries, has hardly grown in shipping proportionately to its growth in other respects. The reason is that, except fish, granite and agricultural products, the city has nothing of much moment to export.