Herring fisheries on the south and southwest coasts 1973-74

Abstract

The 1973/74 winter herring fishery off the south coast began in the week ending 10 November 1973 and ended on 26 February 1974. Some small landings were however made in the weeks before 10 November. The total landing at the ports of Dunmore East and Cobh amounted to 62192 cran. This was 47109 crans lower than the figure for the previous year and was in fact the lowest figure since the 1966/67 season. Seventy three boats, ten less than in the previous season, took part in the fishery. In the interest of conservation of the stocks it had been agreed prior to the opening of the season that no fishing should take place on Sunday nights. This practice was maintained throughout the season with the result that fishing only took place on 58 days out of a possible 90 days. Continuous broken weather throughout January and February also severely hampered fishing operations and because of this the fleet operating from Cobh was able to fish on only 16 nights from Christmas until the 28 February.