FEARLESS FISHERMEN

Waikato Times, Volume 117, Issue 19599, 11 June 1935, Page 8

FEARLESS FISHERMEN

SHETLANDERS AT HOME.

HARDY ADVENTURERS. In the bleat Island of Shetland, utterly devoid of trees, a forest of masts and' funnels lies by the water front waving and jostling in the harbour swell. It is ‘the herring 'fleet assembled in the sheltered port of Lerwick from all parts of the British coast, but mainly Scottish, for the summer fishing. But surely these boats number less than in former years? This very question is proving an urgent problem for the ’Birtish ‘Government, How can the legislators help to restore lost foreign markets of the herring Industry? Already the House of ‘Commons has hgreed to aid the fishermen with grants and loans, but the major problem of how to find new markets or regain old ones remains. Among suggestions put forward is a nationwide “Eat more herrings” campaign. In other quarters it is 'felt that only a radical reconstruction of the whole industry can appreciably improve the situation.

In the meantime among the fishermen fresh hope finds expression in fresh paint at the beginning of the voyage in pursuit of possibly the most mysterious and baffling- of all fish—the herring. Shetlanders have been born to the sea, with their crofts ashore as a second string to their bow. Few other seamen have contrived with such success .to marry their calling with any other pursuit. When each herring season begins, the croft is abandoned to the women and the men fake to the boats Without thought of returning until Christmas or later, after the casti coast fishing on the banks off Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth.

The Scottish fleet, unlike the English, which is only half its age, has for the most part clung tenaciously to the old traditions of private ownership, and few boats belong to big trusts or limited liability companies. Each 'Scottish crew is a band of adventurers, every man with a personal ■stake in the expenses and a proportionate share In the final profits. Nets and boats are mostly owned by the fishermen and commercially each boat is a separate unit standing 'her own losses and enjoying her gains without any pooling system to reduce profits or mitigate the effects of misfortune. Bonds of Brotherhood. Notwithstanding keenest commercial rivalry, the 'fleet is united 'by the closest bonds of brotherhood which knows no stint In the face of danger or necessity. Labour and capital in the herring fleet find one indispensable to the other and long tradition has accorded each Its rightful place which none disputes. jMangus Anderson, for Instance, has a one-eighth share in the boat and owns one-quarter of the nets, which entails the obligation to keep them in repair. ■ When the “share-out” takes place, one-third of the proceeds goes io the boat owners, one third to the owner of the nets as the reward of capital, while the other third is assigned to labour- and divided among the crew as wages. 'Mangus, therefore, knows no clash of labour vs. capital, but looks to each for its proportionate contribution Lo his livelihood. Tills little band of adventurers looks to the voyage to supply most necessities for themselves and families for the ensuing winter, when boats must be. laid up and work on the land resumed. For, although herrings are ■plentiful in these waters in the winter months, markets are poor and in such stormy regions there is extra heavy risk of losing costly gear. ...

Siand on the hills behind the clustered chimney tops of 'Lerwick. Beyond its narrow 'streets and slated roofs see the fleet dancing out to sea in the afternoon sunshine. Each skipper boasts of having his own idea about the best fishing grounds, but on comparison it is strange how little they differ. Some will seek the bigger herrings off 'the west coast, but the majority will steam eastward in search of numbers, shooting their nets in company with hundreds of other boats on the banks where herrings in their millions are thought to have collected from the ocean depths at spawning time. Behind you the women pause in their task of rooing the sheep to spot their man’s boat by the colour of her funnel, and wish her a good catcli to reward the night’s fishing. In' the gray cottages, dotted over tiie bleak hills, older women, boasting of sons and grandsons in tbe fleet, work at the wool their daughters have Drought m—leasing, cleaning, spinning, knitting and twining Into the lace, which for softness and fineness admits no rival. indeed some of the threads that these old women twist and weave without the aid of spectacles seem no coarser than a spider’s weh and the pattern of their gossamer just as fairy like.

Gang Their Galt

True even here, the machine has intervened; and the rising generation mostly scorns such delicate embroidery demanding so much time and patience merely for the sake of craftsmanship, and favours something purporting to be just as good turned out by machinery in a hundredth of the time. But the older folk still gang their gait, sending their wares to London and I lie other capitals of the world for sale to those who love beautiful handicraft for its own sake.

Through the grey twilit sight the drifter licet bobs and tosses with twinkling lights, dancing to the rhythm of the swell. Ahead of each boat a 'long line of floats, resembling coloured footballs, such as children love to play with on I lie sands, rise and fall to Hie rolling waves; beneath them hangs a giant, “tennis” net, 30 feet in depth and two miles long, waiting ror a shoal of herring which may well comprise 10,000,000 fish.

With early dawn comes the grunting grumble of the steam winches heaving in, and nil-skinned backs arc to be seen in each boat, bending over tlie nets which deft and hardy lingers pull in-board, slinking and flicking scores of silvery fish into the hold. And with the last, the skipper sounds a gay loot on the whistle to start the race for port, where the market will decide the commercial value of (he night’s labour. Things are not always what they

seem. A hold full of good fresh fish does not always mean, good earnings, or indeed a price at all. Gluts and scarcity have consequences here in these unsophisticated islands no less crazy than elsewhere; and from time to time drifters may be seen ploughing their way seaward —not to fish—but to dump overboard the catch they cannot sell', while only a few miles away in England thousands of unemployed are short of food. As the summer months go by the fleet works In its way southward, still in pursuit of the herring. On ■shore follows the army of 2000 or 3000 herring girls from the Hebrides and Scottish highlands. These also arc hardy adventurers, not knowing when it begins what the season will bring forth from bare sufficiency lo plenty. Whatever the earnings they arc surely earned.