3-008-639 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

White-fish fisheries: fishing boats off Dysart, 1862. 'The over-fishing of our white fish is not...confined to any one variety...The prevalent ignorance as to the habits of the white fish has helped the diminution of the shoals. Up till within the last few years it was supposed by both naturalists and fishermen that fish of all kinds wandered about in vast bodies from coast to coast; but this is not the case. All fish are local in their habits, and live in communities much in the same way as human beings...In May and June, all along the coasts of these islands, there starts to life a determined industry that has, so to speak, been but drowsily awake during the winter months. In Scotland, where the seas are tempestuous in the cold season, and where the men have to wait on genial weather, these months are usually selected as the best time really to begin the white-fish fishery. Besides, in the early months of the year the white fish are spawning, and therefore not good for food, although we have them at market all the year round. The busy industry we have indicated can be seen to the greatest advantage on the Scottish coasts, as the fisheries are one of the chief natural resources of Scotland'. From "Illustrated London News", 1862.