The chief buyers of the fresh fish are known as curers; they provide salt, barrels, and labor for the curing and packing of the fish. The curer, who is usually a person of considerable capital, contracts with the owners of the boats for a certain quantity of fish, usually 200 crans, for which lie pays at a rate. which has been arranged for long before the commencement of the fishery. In addition to a specified price per m Gran, a sum of money is usually paid down by way of bounty, and various privileges. such as dye-stuffs and drying-ground for nets, a few gallons of whisky, etc., are agreed for as well. Some curers will have as many as 250 boats fishing for them on various parts of the coast. The herrings are cured (in Scotland) under the inspection of an officer, and each barrel, if cured according to the instructions laid down by the fishery board, is entitled, on the payment of a small fee, to be marked with the government brand, as a mark of its quality. A. large number of women arc employed to 'rut and pack the fish, which they do with astonishing dexterity. The excitement anti bustle at a large fishing-port during the herring season are remarkable, large numbers of people being employed in the various industries incidental to the capture and cure of the herrings. Amsterdam is said to have been built on herring-bones; but the Dutch herring-fishery, once of great magnitude, has been exceeded by that of Scotland, which is the largest in the world, and from which cured herrings are exported to the continent of Europe and to Ireland, and other countries, in large )intrtities, • The only official statistics of the herring-fishexy in Great Britain relate to the fishery in Scotland and the Isle of Man; these are issued annually by the commissioners of the British fisheries. No account is kept of the quantity of herrings caught on the English coast, nor is there any authentic statistics of the number or value of the boats engaged in this branch of the fishery.
From the report of the Scottish fishery hoard for 1876, it appears that, in that year, there were 90,713 persons and 14.547 boats (of which, with nets, etc., the value was £1,127,994) employed in the Scottish herring and other fisheries. The total quantity of herrings cured in this year, which was the most unproductive since 1859, was only 598,197; whereas in 1875, 942,980 barrels were cured. In 1877 again the number of barrels was 847,718. The Irish reports give no such statistics, and details of the Eng lish herring-fishery cannot be separated from those of other branches of the fishery busi neSa.
Herring-fisheries have always been the subject of legislative protection in the United Kingdom, being considered a valuable branch of public industry. In 1860 an act of parliament, 23 and 24 Vict. c. 92, passed to regulate the Scotch herring-fisheries. By that act, the commissioners of the British white-herring fishery may appoint a close season in some parts of the Scotch coast, there being a close season also fixed from Jan. to May inclusive, as to the principal parts of the coast. The kind of fishing-boats and nets employed in the fishery is subjected to regulation. A penalty is incurred by selling fresh herrings during close time, 24 and 25 Vict. c. 72. The following are the more recent acts for the encouragement and regulation of the British white-herring fishery: 48 Geo. III. c. 110, 51 Geo. III. c. 101, 52 Geo. III. c. 153, 54 Geo. III. c. 102, 55 Geo. III. c. 94, 1 Geo. IV. c. 103, 1 and 2 Geo. IV. c. 79, 5 Geo. IV. c. 64, 7 Geo. IV. c. 34, 1 Will. IV. c. 54, 6 and 7 Viet. c. 79, 10 and 11 Vict. c. 91, 14 and 15 Viet. c. 26, 23 and 24 Vict. c. 92, 24 and 25 Vict. c. 72, 37 and 38 Vict. c. 25. See FISHE'UES.