Those at the 5th June meeting were privileged to hear an absorbing illustrated talk on the history of herring fishing in the East Neuk, by club member Allan Wood.

We heard that the Dutch had a near monopoly of herring fishing from the 15th to the 17th centuries. Their boats were large and lay overnight with drift nets set to catch the herring, which  were hauled by hand in the morning, salted and placed in barrels. Smaller boats took the fish to the markets.

It was not until the 19th century that the home industry overtook the dutch. This was driven by a change in boat design. Early boats were small, un-decked and unstable under stormy conditions, so the fishermen did not venture far from shore. In 1848, a violent storm hit the country - 124 boats were sunk, and 100 fishermen lost their lives. 

An enquiry recommended that heavier, decked boats be used. This eventually became the norm for the Scottish fishing fleet and resulted in the development of four main types: Skaffies, Fifies, Baldies and Zulus - all with lug sails. These boats could venture 50 miles and more offshore. At peak there were something like 7,000 boats around the Scottish coast, with 2.5 million barrels of herring being recorded in 1907.

The story continued with steam drifters displacing the sailing boats and then paraffin or petrol engines appearing along with ring nets - and finally Seine nets and, ultimately, overfishing and the collapse of the industry.

Allan also spoke of the vital part women played in the herring industry - gutting , preparing, salting and packing the fish and following the boats and the movement of shoals down the East coast as far as East Anglia. It was a harsh existence rising at 5 am to work for 12 hours - outside and in all weathers. The women worked in teams of three and it is recorded that skilled workers could handle 40 to 60 Fish per minute - some 20,000 a day. 

Allan rounded off his talk on a high note! with an excellent short film clip of historic photographs with as soundtrack a fine recording of ‘The Shoals of Herring’

Altogether a fascinating talk covering the history of East Neuk fishing and the foundation of a way of life now long gone. Following questions a warm vote of thanks was proposed by Andy Matthew.