Les paysans-pêcheurs écossais

Abstract

Among the crofters, one can still find about 400 crofter-fishermen, scattered along the North-West coast and overall in the islands : Hebrides, Shetland and Orkney. In each township, rural life is founded on two distinct and complementary parts : croft land, surrounded by walls and situated between the sea and the mountains or moorland, and divided into strips, a proof of small estates and holdings, producing only poor crops ; and on the rest of the acreage of township, vast and common rough grazings and peat bogs on which each crofter has a right to maintain his stock and cut peat. Fishing is but an auxiliary occupation completing the agricultural activity. It generally consists in fishing crabs and lobsters in coastal waters, from boats less than 12 feet long ; they land their catch in small roughly equipped creeks, scattered along the coast. After pointing out how this anachronic association is far more extant on the islands than on the mainland, and why it is no longer viable, the author traces its origin and draws out its recent evolution. Fishing was added to agriculture in the 18th century when the development of sheep farming swept the farmers from the inland towards a soon overpopulated coast. Poverty was at its worse, at the end of the 19th century, in spite of strong emigration, so that the government had to intervene. Nevertheless depopulation continued in all the North-West counties and the number of crofter-fishermen is now decreasing at a much faster rate, either because they change their profession or out of death, as they count a strong proportion of old men. The « Highland and Islands Development Board », founded in 1965, tries to restrain emigration by promoting a busy and full time fishing industry, but on the contrary it also speeds up the disappearance of crofter-fishermen.