Fishing industry in Scotland to feed the fisher and their immediate community. By the medieval period, salmon and herring were important resources and were exported to continental Europe, and the towns of the Hanseatic League in particular. As the industry developed, "fishertouns" and villages sprang up to supply the growing towns and fishing became more specialised. The many religious houses in Scotland acted as a spur to fisheries, granting exclusive fishing rights and demanding part of their tithes in fish. In the early 19th Century, the British Government began to subsidise the catches of herring boats larger than 60 tons, plus an additional bounty
Fishing industry in Scotland immigrant workers. The fishing industry in Scotland is supported by a number of governmental and non-governmental organisations. Fisheries research in Scotland dates back to the foundation of the Scottish Marine Station, near Oban and the Gatty Marine Laboratory at St Andrews in 1884. Government involvement in fisheries research began in 1899 with the foundation of the Aberdeen Marine Laboratory, now operating as Fisheries Research Services (FRS). FRS is an agency of the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD), and provides fish stock assessments, research and policy advice to the Scottish Executive, and the Scottish rural affairs minister, Ross