Before the onset of the 20^th century and the rapid industrialisation that was to follow, fishing in the Firth of Clyde was performed mostly from small rowing and sailing skiffs. These sailed out to capture the huge shoals of herring that arrived every winter to spawn off the south coast of Arran and at Ballantrae Banks[i]. Other catches of fish were also taken in the Clyde, particularly in the summer months when herring did not congregate in shoals. Fisheries for mackerel, cod, haddock and whiting, turbot and flounders existed[ii], but none was as economically significant as the annual herring fishery.

A Clyde skiff in c. 1904 using oars and sails. Source: Martin, A (2002). Herring fishermen of Kintyre and Ayrshire. House of Lochar, Isle of Colonsay, UK¹⁴.

In the 1870s the Ballantrae winter herring fishery was the most important in Scotland[iii], with boats from as far away as the east coast coming to take part in the annual catch. Fishers were not the only ones to take advantage of the multitudes of herring, as P. Wilson describes in 1887,

The banks are at times the scene of lively interest when visited by a shoal of whales. On a recent occasion, as the sun was setting, a shoal of at least forty whales in pairs and a number of porpoises began to play, and went circling round the margin of the bank displaying their huge fins and arched backs, gracefully plunging and again reappearing a short distance off. The porpoises, in wild leaps went several feet sheer out of the water, and then dived apparently in search of their prey. In this manner the flock of whales and porpoises went circling round for at least a distance of ten miles¹⁶.

Wilson also depicts the activities of gannets in the area, as many seabirds were attracted to the rich resources of Ballantrae Banks to feed,

Overhead the air is often clouded with them [gannets]. Gathering their wings to their sides, they drop from the height of 200 to 300 yards like meteor showers, jets of spray rising on the surface, and indicating the spots where they have pierced the water. Sometimes they descend to a depth of several fathoms, and fish the herrings from the trammel-nets at the sea bottom, and occasionally get caught themselves in the meshes […]. All authorities agree in the opinion that the quantity of herrings consumed by the gannets exceeds that captured by man.

The number of predators visible in the water and their ferocity when consuming the shoals of herring, led people to be amazed that there would be enough left at the end of the frenzy for the fishers, as P. Wilson states in 1887,

With so many agencies of destruction, the marvel is that so many herrings remain to become the food of man, who, with all his ingenuity and skill, cannot compete with the sea birds, cod, and other fishes¹⁶.

Plentiful catches were, however, still taken by people with entire boatfuls of fish regularly caught[iv]^{, [v]}. The diversity of the Clyde was also apparent, with many species of skates, rays and sharks observed, including tope sharks, blue sharks and even a thresher shark witnessed in Loch Fyne in 1898[vi]. The same author reports the finding of a seahorse (Hippocampus spp.) near Campbeltown in 1894, with news of these also found many years before in this area¹⁹. Dogfish could be so numerous during the herring fishery that they were perceived as serious pests. Their sharp spines entangled them in fishers’ nets[vii], tearing and rendering the nets useless, sometimes forcing the fishery to a halt until the dogfish moved from the area[viii].

Locating the herring

Before the advent of echo sounders and fast moving trawlers, locating fish was a skilled and often frustrating activity. Whilst out on the boat, ‘appearances’ of herring would be constantly searched for upon the surface of the sea. These could take the form of gannets plummeting vertically into the sea, or bubbles present on the surface of the water as gas was released from the herrings’ swim bladders. A phosphorescent glow on the surface of the sea at night, as microscopic dinoflagellates were disturbed by a shoal of fish was also a sign of herring¹⁴.

Once the presence of herring was suspected, nets were shot from the boat. Three main types of gear were in use in the Firth of Clyde in the 19^th century, these were the drift, trammel and seine net¹⁶. Drift nets were set behind the boat¹⁴, while trammel nets were set upon the bottom of the sea bed and left to ensnare spawning herring¹⁶. Trammel nets were the major mode of fishing in the Firth of Clyde for centuries, but slowly the seine net began to be adopted. It was known as the ‘ring-net’, because fishers encircled the net around the shoal of herring, before drawing the net tight and ensnaring the fish.

Natural variation and conflict

The herring fishery had always been subject to huge year-to-year fluctuations. Different areas around the coast would become productive, only to decrease a few years later. Loch Fyne in the inner Firth of Clyde was the site of a major spawning herring fishery in the mid-1800s, but by the 1880s few herring could be found there[ix]. Even from year to year, changes in the numbers of herring caught could be enormous. In 1895 the herring fishery was a failure in the Rothesay district in the Firth of Clyde, yet in 1897 it is documented that a vast shoal, several miles wide, is seen[x]^{, [xi]}. The spawning grounds of the Ballantrae Banks also had good years and bad years. P. Wilson, writing in 1887 stated,

The fishing has had its fluctuations, as there are years of scarcity and plenty in the sea as on the land, besides weather and other conditions which interfere with its prosecution. It is stated by [Mr William] Abercrombie [Minister of Maypole, written about 1686], when he wrote of Ballantrae as being greatly resorted to by reason of a herring fishery at Christmas, ‘but that has ceased some thirty years past’¹⁶.

The use of different techniques to capture herring would sometimes lead to conflict, and in periods of drought when few herring could be caught, fishers were quick to blame the actions of others, as J.C Ewart and colleagues noted in 1887,

The fishermen, as a rule, seem to have made up their minds that certain modes of fishing are injurious, and although at times the opinions of the fishermen at one centre were in direct opposition to those prevailing at another, they were always firmly adhered to, the fishermen being unwilling to give weight to any considerations which failed to accord with their opinions. For example, the seine net fishermen of Campbeltown insist on the great injury done by the trammel net fishermen who work on the Ballantrae banks, while the Ballantrae fishermen believe that the use of seine nets on the banks is ruining the herring fishing[xii].

Technology was constantly being adapted and improved, but with new technology came additional conflict, as fishers became concerned that stocks may be depleted by the more efficient methods.

Improved technology: the seine net at Ballantrae Banks

The seine net was first used in Loch Fyne in 1838, but caused such conflict between the seine and drift netters that a law was passed in 1851 making seine netting illegal[xiii]. Conflicts still continued, with the result that one fisherman was wounded in 1853 and another shot dead in 1862 by those enforcing the law¹⁴. When shoals of fish found their way into Loch Fyne, it led to drift netters arming themselves to prevent the seine netters from entering the area. However, enforcement was little use, and seine netting continued almost unabated during the years it was made illegal²⁶. A Royal Commission of Enquiry led by Thomas Huxley, resulted in the allowance of seine net fishing in 1867, along with the repeal of many other fishery regulations²⁶.

An enquiry into whether the seine net was injurious to drift net fishing was launched by the Fishery Board for Scotland in 1899[xiv]. At this time the once important Ballantrae Banks fishing grounds had suffered a decline, and blame was being laid upon the seine netters, who had greatly increased in number in the 1880s shortly before the decline in catches occurred.

The Ballantrae Banks is a shallow area where herring were fished whilst spawning. This area had been closed to fishing in 1860 between January and May, as it was thought that these spawning fish were being caught before they could reach Loch Fyne, but this law was repealed and the fishery resumed in 1868²⁶. Before 1878 the only gear used to capture herring was the trammel and drift net, but in 1878 the seine net began to be employed and was met with great success²⁶.

Changes of fortune at Ballantrae Banks: Landings of herring caught by trammel, drift and seine net from the Ballantrae Banks between 1876 and 1900. Source: Fulton, T.W (1900). Report of an enquiry on the action of the herring seine-net²⁶.

It was found that the relatively shallow banks of the Ballantrae fishing ground led to the larger seine nets dragging along the sea bed, as well as being more likely to entrap juvenile herring, as T.W. Fulton reported in 1900,

With regard to the capture of small or immature herrings, there is no doubt that the seine net takes far greater quantities than the trammel net does […]. In seasons when small herrings abound very large quantities have been landed, and in some years have been found unsaleable and used for manure. Sometimes the catch of the seine boats consists of herrings as large and fine as those got by the trammels, but as a rule there is a considerable admixture of inferior fish. If the net is torn on the bottom, which is not an infrequent occurrence, or if a larger quantity is enclosed than the boats can well carry, and part is allowed to escape, the proportion of small herrings in the catch may be increased, inasmuch as large numbers of them are meshed²⁶.

The dragging of the seine nets across the Ballantrae Banks was claimed to cause a great deal of destruction to deposited spawn. However, the trammel nets also destroyed spawn, and both the drift and trammel nets were by no means free of bycatch, especially if left standing for days due to stormy weather, as T.W. Fulton noted:

These nets are left in the water, and are usually visited in the morning by the fishermen, who remove the herrings and re-set the net; the boats do not stand by their nets. It often happens that, owing to bad weather, the nets cannot be visited for many days, and they become so weighted with fish as to lie flat on the bottom; and sometimes a gale sweeps them away or casts them into heaps, and in such cases putrefaction of the herrings contained in them causes pollution of the water ²⁶.

The investigation into the use of the seine net found that in certain conditions and deep water, the net would not be too much of a problem to fish stocks, but in shallow grounds such as the Ballantrae Banks more damage could possibly be done;

The seine net, when used at Ballantrae Bank, extends from the surface to the bottom and encloses everything that comes within its reach, and there is little doubt that it is in the power of seine-net fishermen to sweep this limited area almost clean of herrings for the time. The destruction of deposited spawn does not appear to be of much importance, but an excessive fishing on the Bank among the spawning shoals and constant sweeping of the bottom is not unlikely to prove injurious²⁶.

Seine nets were difficult to work and required two boats to set and haul in the net¹⁴, but when shoals of herring were spotted, huge hauls of over 200,000 fish could be taken²⁶. Despite the continuing conflicts, the success of the seine net crews led other fishers to follow, until the seine was the most common method of fishing for herring in the Clyde by the 1890s²⁶.

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[i] Martin, A (2002). Herring fishermen of Kintyre and Ayrshire. House of Lochar, Isle of Colonsay, UK.

[ii] Esslemont, P., Smith, J.G., Thoms, G.H.M., M’Kechnie, D., M’Intosh, W.C., Smith, W.A., Boyd, W., Johnston, J. and Welch, J.R (1894). Appendix O: Reports from the different fishery districts. Twelfth Annual Report of the Fishery Board for Scotland, being for the year 1893. Edinburgh, UK.

[iii] Wilson, P (1887). Appendix J: The herring fishing in Ballantrae district. In, Boyd, T.J., Smith, J.G., Thoms, G.H., Irvine, A.F., Maitland, J.R.G., Ewart, J.C., Graham, J.M. and Grieve,J.J (1887). Fifth Annual Report of the Fishery Board for Scotland, being for the year 1886. Edinburgh, UK.

[iv] Hannah, W (1887). Fisherman. Appendix B: Notes of evidence taken before the committee of the fishery board for Scotland at Girvan, 29^th December 1887. In, Ewart, J.C., Maitland, J.R.G., Boyd, W. and Johnston, J (1888). Fishery Board for Scotland: report of a committee of the Fishery Board for Scotland as to the regulation of trawling and other modes of fishing in the Territorial Waters. Edinburgh, UK.

[v] Martin, D (1887). Fisherman. Appendix (B): Courtroom, Campbeltown. In, Appendix A: Preliminary report and evidence taken by Sir James Maitland and Professor Ewart as to the influence of trawling and other modes of fishing in the Clyde estuary. In, Ewart, J.C., Maitland, J.R.G., Boyd, W. and Johnston, J (1888). Fishery Board for Scotland: report of a committee of the Fishery Board for Scotland as to the regulation of trawling and other modes of fishing in the Territorial Waters. Edinburgh, UK.

[vi] Scott, T (1900). The fishes of the Firth of Clyde. In, Sutherland, A., Crawford, D., Thompson, D.W., Welch, J.R., Duguid, W.R., Milloy, L., Mearns, D. and Robertson, W.M.C (1900). Eighteenth Annual Report of the Fishery Board for Scotland, being for the year 1899. Edinburgh, UK.

[vii] Blake, G (1952). The Firth of Clyde. Collins, London.

[viii] Boyd, T.J., Smith, J.G., Thoms, G.H., Irvine, A.F., Maitland, J.R.G., Ewart, J.C., Johnston, J., Boyd, W. and Smith,W.A (1891). Ninth Annual Report of the Fishery Board for Scotland, being for the year 1890. Edinburgh, UK.

[ix] Brook, G (1886). Appendix E: report on the herring fishery of Loch Fyne and the adjacent districts during 1885. In, Boyd, T.J., Smith, J.G., Thoms, G.H., Irvine, A.F., Maitland, J.R.G., Williamson, S., Ewart, J.C., Graham, J.M. and Grieve,J.J (1886). Fourth Annual Report of the Fishery Board for Scotland, being for the year 1885. Edinburgh, UK.

[x] Sutherland, A., Patrick, R.W.C., Crawford, D., Murray, J., Welch, J.R., Duguid, W.R. and Jameson, A (1896). Appendix N: Reports from the different fishery districts. Fourteenth Annual Report of the Fishery Board for Scotland, being for the year 1895. Edinburgh, UK.

[xi] Sutherland, A., Crawford, D., Murray, J., Welch, J.R., Duguid, W.R., Jameson, A., Milloy, L. and Robertson, W.C (1898). Appendix L: Reports from the different fishery districts for 1897. Sixteenth Annual Report of the Fishery Board for Scotland, being for the year 1897. Edinburgh, UK.

[xii] Ewart, J.C., Maitland, J.R.G., Boyd, W. and Johnston, J (1888). Fishery Board for Scotland: report of a committee of the Fishery Board for Scotland as to the regulation of trawling and other modes of fishing in the Territorial Waters. Edinburgh, UK.

[xiii] Fulton, T.W (1900). Report of an enquiry on the action of the herring seine-net. In, Sutherland, A., Crawford, D., Thompson, D.W., Welch, J.R., Duguid, W.R., Milloy, L., Mearns, D. and Robertson, W.M.C (1900). Eighteenth Annual Report of the Fishery Board for Scotland, being for the year 1899. Edinburgh, UK.

[xiv] Sutherland, A., Crawford, D., Thompson, D.W., Welch, J.R., Duguid, W.R., Milloy, L., Mearns, D. and Robertson, W.M.C (1900). Eighteenth Annual Report of the Fishery Board for Scotland, being for the year 1899. Edinburgh, UK.