Fish for answers

Published on Saturday 16 December 2006 00:11

Q MY great grandfather ran a fishing boat in Scotland. Where can I find out more? K Laing (Canada)

A Ships and fishing boats must be registered before they can be navigated. From 1786 local customs officers frequently maintained shipping registers and sea fishing boat registers on behalf of the Registrar-General of Seamen. Surviving registers are included among the Customs and Excise records held by the National Archives of Scotland (NAS). They usually record ships' names, owners, the ship's master and a basic description of the vessel. Some registers are also held at local customs offices.

On the west coast of Scotland the shipping registers were generally maintained by the Fishery Offices. Some of these registers of fishing boats, which fall within the years 1869-1988, are included in the Fishery Board records also held by the NAS (their ref AF17-36). Annual lists of Scottish fishing vessels between 30 and 79.9ft from 1965 onwards are contained in the files of the former Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland (DAFS), (NAS ref AF62), and some are also held in the Library of the Scottish Executive. From about 1980 DAFS and its successors have published The Scottish Fishing Fleet, including additional information such as the vessel type and fishing method, producer organisation, and the numbers (but not the names) of crew. Copies are available in the NAS from 1983 (NAS ref AF87/2), in copyright libraries such as the National Library of Scotland, British Library and Library of the Scottish Executive. Records of the Fishery Board used to be closed for 30 years from the last date of each record so some might still be closed. If you come across a record which is closed, you can make a Freedom of Information request to view it.

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ScotlandsPeople is a partnership between the General Register Office for Scotland, the National Archives of Scotland and the Court of the Lord Lyon.