Chasing the silver darlings

Despite what some people may believe, the industry is heavily regulated, and although these super trawlers sometimes have the reputation of being partly responsible for overfishing, this is far from the truth. They abide by very strict quotas and spend the best part of the year tied to the pier. Fishing boats, particularly those in Shetland, are family businesses where the younger generations take over as the older men retire. Fishermen are very much aware that they have to leave a viable and healthy industry for those following in their footsteps. The notion that fishermen want to empty the seas for profit is misguided.

Most of the fish are landed at the Shetland Catch in Lerwick, Europe’s largest pelagic fish processing plant. This industry is an integral part of the wider fishing and aquaculture sectors in Shetland that make up over 50% of the local economy.

The herring industry has been immortalised on Lerwick’s waterfront by a large sculpture. In front of the Tollbooth building, sitting close to the Small Dock Harbour, is a sculpture by artist Jo Chapman depicting a large fishing buoy with various words and phrases relating to the fishery. The Lightsome Buoy, as it’s named, is a large bronze sculpture that celebrates the role that pelagic fishing plays in Shetland life ‒ celebrating its past, present and future.

Bygone herring days

Shetland’s herring roots begin in Lerwick. Throughout the 1500 and 1600s, Dutch fishermen began arriving in great numbers throughout the summer months. Starting in June, fishing busses would congregate in Bressay Sound before commencing their summer fishery at Johnsmas on 24th June. At this time, Lerwick was no more than a collection of trading booths lining Bressay Sound’s shores. This fishery led to the widespread growth of the town.

The Dutch fishing saw many boats fish in and around Shetland, with William Aberdeen in 1766 describing between eight or nine hundred Dutch vessels arriving at rendezvous before the fishery commenced. Despite the influx of boats and men, this didn’t translate to jobs onshore in Shetland as the fish caught by the Dutch fishermen was processed onboard their busses and shipped to overseas markets. Before the 19th century, Shetlanders seldom fished herring for more than subsistence purposes.

It wasn’t until the late 19th and early 20th century that the herring boomed locally, bringing a home-based fishery that brought prosperity and jobs, leading to another widespread growth and expansion of Lerwick between 1880 and 1925.

The fishery had experienced a short boom throughout the 1830s, but this came to an abrupt end in 1839 and was ultimately cemented by the collapse of the Shetland Bank and the bankruptcy of merchants Hay & Ogilvy in 1842.

From the 1880s Shetland’s herring industry began to boom again, and by 1905, the biggest year, an astonishing 1,000,000 barrels (113,021 tonnes) of herring was cured and exported from Shetland by around 1,700 boats and 20,000 men.

Herring fever

Herring was now landed and processed in Shetland for the first time, leading to a rise in curing stations and coopering yards throughout the isles. From Baltasound to Lerwick, herring fever swept through the islands every summer, with an influx of fish and the folk who were employed to process them. Shore workers followed the fleet, supplying the boats and processing the catch as it was landed. There were always many more jobs on land than there were at sea, so this industry encompassed the entire community.

This lucrative fishery saw Shetland’s population increase by up to 50% during the summer months as up to 2,000 boats and 10,000 men travelled north in search of the silver darlings (as herring were referred to). By 1885, there were 114 curing yards across Shetland.

Each curing station had its own team of ‘gutter girls’ who worked tirelessly to gut the herring and pack barrels ready for export. These women stayed in temporary accommodation blocks that were dotted along the shoreline. The accommodation was basic, and the work was physically backbreaking. The women employed at the stations were highly skilled, able to gut and pack fish at a phenomenal rate. As herring was an oily fish, it needed to be processed very quickly before it began to rot, and across Scotland, some 6,000 girls travelled from port to port, gutting herring and ensuring that it was processed within 24 hours of being caught. After it was gutted, most herring was packed in barrels outdoors and layered with salt, ready for export. Women worked over large wooden troughs known as farlans. An experienced gutter girl was expected to process an astonishing 60 fish a minute, and a packer could pack three barrels an hour. Women were paid depending on how much they were able to process, and a good wage for the season was between £17 and £20.

Many of the boats that landed their catch were from the east coast of Scotland and northern English ports, but Shetland now had a large fleet. In 1877 there were three decked herring boats. This grew to 349 by 1885 and, by 1905, Shetland had a strong fleet of over 400 herring boats employing about 3,200 local men.

Within Shetland, Unst was a key player in this lucrative new industry. Baltasound was Europe’s top herring port, boasting more herring stations (49) than Lerwick and a population that burgeoned every summer. During the busy summer months, the village’s 500 strong population increased to a staggering 10,000 as gutters, coopers, and around 600 boats moved in.

After the First World War, the industry began a slow decline, and by the 1950s, all the sail drifters had been replaced, and seine netters grew in importance. The 1950s also saw a growth in the whitefish industry that overtook herring fishing in this decade. After a difficult few years, skippers began investing in new boats and new technology from the 1960s and beyond. The foresight of those skippers and crew who continued to chase the silver darlings ultimately paid off. Today, the industry is a healthy and successful one that generates many jobs and income within the isles.

All that remains of those early halcyon days of a bygone era in Shetland’s herring story is Swan, a 67ft Fifiel built in Shetland in 1900, during the boom years. After fishing for many years around Shetland, Swan fell into a state of disrepair as more modern steam vessels that could cover greater distances and transport their catch to markets took over the fishery.

After surviving two world wars, and a downturn in the industry, Swan, was brought back to life and lovingly restored to her former glory by The Swan Trust, a team of dedicated volunteers with a vision to breathe life back into her. She was relaunched as a sail training and charter vessel in 1996.

Standing at the waterfront in Lerwick or Baltasound, there is little evidence of this early herring industry. Still, the pelagic fleet that ties up at Mair’s Pier in Lerwick and that dominates Symbister Harbour in Whalsay is a testament to this boom period.

If you’re interested in finding out more about herring fishing and its history in Shetland, look out for an upcoming film from the Shetland Film Archive depicting Shetland’s early herring days.