12,235. And they have an account which is settled at the end of the fishing season?-Yes.
12,236. Do you buy no fish at all?-No. My father has an interest in two boats that fish on the home banks off Shetland. That is the cod fishing; they don't go to the Faroe fishing. They are smacks, but they are small.
12,237. That bank is between Shetland and Orkney?-Yes.
12,238. Exclusive of the men who are engaged in the Faroe fishing, have you or your father many accounts with fishermen living in the district?-Not very [Page 301] many. We have some, but they are principally with men who go south, and we supply their families during the time they are away. They go principally to Liverpool, and sometimes to Greenock, and enter the merchant service. They remain away for a year or two, and then come home for a winter.
12,239. Do these men send allotment notes home to their wives?- Not often. They generally remit money home at the end of the voyage.
12,240. Then you have no security at all for your advances, except the personal credit of the men?-None at all.
12,241. There may be some stock on their farms occasionally?- Of course they have a little.
12,242. Have you any accounts with fishermen on the ling fishing at home?-Not many. There is no ling fishing carried on close to where I live.
12,243. But a few of your neighbours are engaged in it?-No. I think there are none of them engaged in it.
12,244. Is it the same with your father's place?-Yes; there is no ling fishing there at all.