Peterhead Fishing - A Brief History:

The original harbours and mooring areas of Peterhead lay in the shelter of the two small offshore islands of Keith Inch and Greenhill. A small jetty was built on Keith Inch in the early 16th century. After the town was created a burgh in 1587, work began on a bulwark at Port Henry after 1593. The development of the South Harbour was under way by the 1730's and was eventually completed by 1812. Work on the North harbour began in 1818 and was finished in 1848, and a canal was cut to unite the two harbours in 1849. After languishing for over 150 years, Port Henry was rebuilt in 1878. A major reconstruction of the harbours took place in the early 1980's, closing off the seaward entrance of the North harbour, and a new fish market was built. The latest development currently under way is an extension of the South Harbour to provide further deepwater wharfage space.

Fishing has always been a part of life in Peterhead. In the early days fish were caught for local consumption, such as salmon, cod, ling, plaice, haddock and whiting. Very little attention was initially paid to herring locally and in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries it was the Dutch who dominated herring fishing in this area. At the beginning of the nineteenth century it was suggested that Keith Inch be Feued to the Dutch as a herring base, but this came to nothing.

Meanwhile, the town had developed an interest in whaling. Whales had been pursued off the coast of Europe since at least the ninth century, at first by the French and later by the English and Dutch. During the seventeenth century whaling was dominated by the Dutch, but the introduction of a bounty led to the growth of English whaling during the eighteenth century. The first Scottish whaler left Leith in 1750; in 1788 the 'Robert' was Peterhead's first whaler. Seven whalers sailed from Peterhead in 1814, including the 'Resolution' whose catch that year of 44 whales was never equalled. Taking seals provided a supplement to whaling. By the 1840's, Peterhead had become Britain's premier whaling port. In 1857 Peterhead had 31 vessels out of a British fleet of less than sixty. From this peak began a slow decline. The fleet was modernised in the 1860s with older vessels converted to steam and new vessels built, but by 1877 only seven whalers were left and Dundee had become the leading whaling port. The 'Windward' was the last whaler to sail from Peterhead in 1893. A loss of markets for whale products was one factor for the end of the whaling but over-exploitation had so reduced whale numbers that few whales were left to be caught.

In the early 19th century the development of the herring fishing proceeded slowly and did not seriously begin to grow until 1830 when some herring curers moved to Peterhead from Boddam. Two years earlier a cholera epidemic led to some Caithness fishing and curing families moving to Peterhead. By 1835 there were 75 fishing boats and in 1837, 262 fishing boats operating out of Peterhead. The herring season at Peterhead lasted from the beginning of July to the middle of September. The herring fishing provided work for curers, gutters and packers. At the beginning of the nineteenth century the traditional markets had been the West Indies and Ireland. During the course of the nineteenth century the German, Baltic and latterly the Russian ports became the principal export markets.

The early nineteenth century fishing boat was undecked and about 25 to 30 feet long. Based on the 'North Isles Yole' crews usually numbered five or six men and sometimes a boy. The 'Scaffie' was developed in the mid nineteenth century from the yoles but was longer. The scaffie had a very raked stern and bow and the resulting short keel made them very maneuverable. At first undecked, later scaffies were decked. The 1850's saw the development of the 'Fifie', characterised by almost vertical bow and stern and long keel. The fifie could sail better than a scaffie in heavy seas and could sail very close to the wind. The 'Zulu' fishing boat was developed in the Moray Firth area in the 1880s, later spreading to the rest of Scotland. The zulu combined the good points of the scaffie and the fifie, having the fifie's vertical bow and the scaffie's long raking stern. The zulu's great length above water allowed a larger sail to be carried.

The first steam drifter appeared in the 1890s and a series of good catches between 1900 and 1909 led to a dramatic growth of the Peterhead steam drifter fleet. By 1914 there were 186 steam drifters in the Peterhead fleet. The herring industry collapsed in 1915 following the naval requisition of drifters. Despite the loss of the Russian and Baltic markets after the First World War there was a recovery in the 1920s. After the Second World War, motor fishing vessels gradually replaced steam drifters. Towards the end of the 1950s the herring fishing was dying, owing to over-fishing. During the 1960s and 1970s white fish became steadily important and toady Peterhead is Europe's leading white fish port. Over-exploitation remains a problem and haddock catches are now being regulated.